Till Death Do Us Part
by Piccolo is green
Summary: When Goku discovers that Chi Chi remarried during the seven years that he remained dead, his world turns upside down. It seems that all is lost until a time traveller appears, bringing with her a chilling prophecy. Will Goku save the world one last time?
1. Love Lost

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z.**

Chapter One: Love Lost

Gohan, Piccolo, Goten and Trunks arrived on the lookout. They knew the universe was still in danger, but were hoping that the energy Goku received from all the inhabitants of Earth would be enough to finally destroy Majin Buu once and for all.

"Gohan! Goten!" Chi Chi cried out, running over to her boys and pulling them into her arms. "Oh my babies, I was so worried about you!" she cooed, clutching both the demi-Saiyans to close to her. Behind her, the newest member of the group stood smiling, a hand placed gently on his wife's back.

"We're so happy to have you back here, boys," he said, looking at each of his stepsons in turn. Unlike most of the men on the lookout, he wasn't a martial artist, and hadn't even been interested in the martial arts world until he met Chi Chi. Despite this, he was extremely happy with his new family, and supported both boys as any proud father would. Tom even knew that the boys, along with their friend Trunks, were only half human. After the initial shock, when Chi Chi had told him three years before, he had quickly warmed up to the idea, and found their superhuman strength was something to admire, rather than fear.

"We're happy to be back, Tom," Gohan grinned back at his stepfather. At first, Gohan had resented the man, fearing that he would take his father's place. However, Tom never pushed either of the boys into getting to know him, and each came around in his own time. Now Gohan knew he could count on Tom as good friend, and Gohan was happy to see his mother happy again, after so many years of loneliness.

Krillin observed the happy family reunion with a worried look, which was soon picked up by his own wife, Eighteen. "There's nothing you can do, Krillin," she said to him with her usual bluntness, "it was best not to tell Goku before he fought Buu, so that he wouldn't be distracted during the fight. If he survives, he'll find out soon enough."

"Telling Goku is what I'm worried about," the short man replied, looking up at his wife, "he still loves her, y'know. It's going to break his heart. Goku's always had ways to fix everything, but he can't fix this. I really don't know what's going to happen. He's a Super Saiyan Three, remember."

"Hmmm," the blonde woman replied. She knew well enough how strong the Saiyan Goku was, and hoped that he would keep enough sense that he wouldn't attack any of his friends upon finding out the news of his wife's remarriage. Although it would be extremely out of character for the man to attack innocent people, news of this kind could easily tip even the best of people over the edge.

It was at this moment that all the warriors felt Goku's ki, along with some others, appear on the lookout. As Goku walked around the corner of the lookout's main building, everyone turned to stare at him.

"Dad!" Gohan yelled, running towards his father, who was finally back for good. Gohan's little brother, Goten, joined in too, jumping into his father's arms.

"Daddy!" he yelled, wrapping his arms tightly around his father's neck. "Are you going to stay on Earth now, daddy?"

"I sure am!" Goku told his youngest son with a matching grin. "I can't wait to go back home with you!"

At this last comment, Goku felt both boys stiffen, and looked to his eldest questioningly. "Is something wrong, Gohan?" he asked.

"Dad," Gohan began, but Goku was no longer listening to what was being said. Instead, he was staring at his wife, who looked just as beautiful as the day he had last seen her, seven years prior. Something was wrong, though. His wife didn't look too happy to see him. In fact, she almost looked scared of him.

Goku was about to ask Chi Chi what was wrong, when he noticed the man standing next to her. He had brown hair, which was slightly greying at the sides, and green eyes. He was tall and skinny, and didn't look like a fighter. But it was the last thing that Goku noticed that shocked him.

The man was holding Chi Chi's hand.

Goku let go of his sons, and walked slowly towards his wife. He remained calm on the outside, but inside he felt terrible. His heart was beating like crazy, and he felt like he couldn't breathe.

"Who's this?" he asked Chi Chi softly.

Chi Chi looked to the ground; unable to maintain eye contact with the man she once shared everything with. "Goku," she began in a shaky voice, "I didn't think you'd ever be coming back. I was so lonely, and then I met Tom, just over three years ago. I...Tom and I are married, Goku. Tom is my husband now, not you."

Goku felt his whole world collapse around him. He felt sick, and dizzy, and confused. _Chi Chi is my wife!_ he thought, _Not this guy's!_

"But you're married to me," Goku told the woman in front of him, his face contorted in a strange mix of emotions.

"You died, Goku," Chi Chi replied. "You died, and I moved on. I'm sorry, I really am, but it's too late now. I'm married to Tom. I'm not married to you anymore."

Goku took a few steps back, reeling from the shock. The lookout remained deadly silent, as if everyone was holding in a collective breath. In fact, most on the lookout were holding their breaths, and praying that Goku wouldn't take the news too badly.

Goku's eyes locked on to Krillin, the man who had been his best friend since they were kids. Krillin hated seeing Goku look like this, with his eyes wide, and mouth open in horror.

"I'm sorry, man," Krillin offered to the tall Saiyan, "we thought it was best not to tell you until all the fighting was over."

Goku took a few more steps back, his eyes sweeping over all the others present, who in turn, all had their eyes focused on Goku. _I have to get away_, Goku thought, feeling very much like he was trapped in a cage. He continued to walk back, away from all the staring eyes.

"Dad," Gohan began again, but Goku was already too panicked.

"Stay away from me!" he yelled at everyone. "Just stay away!"

"But Goku," Yamcha pleaded, stepping forward, "we can talk about this, buddy."

"STAY AWAY!" the Saiyan yelled, transforming and firing a ki blast at his scarred friend. "I don't want to talk to any of you again! Just stay away from me!" With that, he blasted off into the sky, leaving only a trail of yellow ki behind him.

Yamcha wasn't badly injured by the blast, but his yellow suit was in pieces. Falling unceremoniously on his butt, he let out a sigh, and looked towards Krillin. "I suppose that was okay, as far a bad reactions go," he commented.

"Yeah," Krillin replied, looking out into the distance. "I just hope he's okay."

* * *

**A/N:** Just to clarify, everything in the Majin Buu saga happened exactly the same as in the series, except that Chi Chi (and her new husband) didn't go to the World Martial Arts Tournament (she wanted to avoid seeing Goku). As for how her and Tom got onto the lookout… Chi Chi and her husband used the flying nimbus to get there when all the trouble started happening (she was watching the tournament on TV and wanted to make sure her sons were safe, the lookout being a 'designated meeting place if bad guys showed up' kinda thing).

Also, Chi Chi moved to Satan City when she married Tom, but Gohan took Videl out to Mt Paozu to train her there during that Great Saiyaman thing.

Don't worry yourself over the Chi Chi and Tom thing; he's not an important character at all, just the means by which this plot can occur.

I know I'm bad starting yet another story, but I thought of this idea a few weeks ago and it's been bugging me lol… I typed up this chapter about two weeks ago so I figured I might as well stick it up.

To anyone reading Things We Left Behind, don't worry, I'm still updating that at least once a week!

I hope you like this idea; any comments would be appreciated :)


	2. Life Lessons

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z.**

Chapter Two: Life lessons

Goku flew away as fast as he could. He didn't know where he was going, only that it had to be as far away from _anything_ that would make him think of Chi Chi.

Unfortunately for him, _everything_ reminded him of Chi Chi at the moment.

The forests below him reminded him of Mt Paozu, which led to thoughts of her. The clouds reminded him of Nimbus, and how he used to take Chi Chi on trips using the fluffy cloud. The sea reminded him of swimming in the lake near his home, hand in hand with his beautiful wife.

Breathing heavily, he spun around in the air. Was there nowhere he could go to get away from her?

Suddenly, a thought struck him. _Another planet_. Surely there wouldn't be any trace of Chi Chi in the far depths of space?

Placing two fingers on his forehead, he frowned in concentration and searched for the closest planet he knew of. When he found the ki belonging to the natives of Yardrat, he used his instant transmission, leaving Earth far behind.

Goku lasted only five minutes on Yardrat. As soon as he remembered why he had been on Yardrat before- training instead of going straight home to his wife after beating Frieza- he had to leave. He didn't want to think of any reasons why Chi Chi would have chosen another guy over him.

Next, Goku chose New Namek. He was sure that there wouldn't be anything offensive there, and the locals would be nice enough to live around. Using instant transmission once again, he was on the green planet in a flash. The terrain didn't really look like that on Earth, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Here, he could relax, without worrying about relationships. He'd even be able to pretend like nothing had ever happened.

"Goku? Is that you?" came a familiar voice, and Goku turned to see Muri, the Namek elder, walking towards him.

"Oh, Hi!" Goku said, trying to sound as normal as possible. Unfortunately, he couldn't get rid of the strain in his voice, and his accompanying smile came out more like a grimace.

"Is there something wrong, son? You did beat Buu, didn't you?" the Namek asked, worry etched on his face.

"Oh yeah, that's taken care of," Goku replied, nodding his head a little too much, and breathing a little too heavily.

"Hmm, well its nice to have visitors here," Muri said, choosing not to comment any further on Goku's strange behaviour. "It was good to see Dende again after so long, it would have been, what, seven Earth years, if I'm right, since you took him to Earth."

Goku's face contorted in horror. Seven Earth years was how long he had been dead for, long enough for Chi Chi to decide she wanted a different man. Shaking, he brought his fingers to his forehead once more. It seemed he couldn't escape from the reality, no matter how far he traveled.

Not wanting to break down in front of a bunch of Namekians, Goku used instant transmission one last time, to bring him to a secluded forest area on Earth.

Collapsing on the ground in a crumpled heap, Goku howled as he realised just how foolish he had been. He should have returned to Earth to be with his family straight after Cell. Enemies showed up regardless of whether he was there or not, it had been arrogant and stupid to assume that people only came after him.

Worst of all, he had missed out on the first seven years of his son's life, and hadn't given much thought to how his decision would have affected others. Did Chi Chi feel like this when she found out he wasn't coming back? So cold, and so alone?

Right now, Goku felt like the only person he needed was his wife, and yet she was the only person he couldn't have.

"_I'm not married to you anymore."_ Her words echoed through his head, over and over again. How could he have been so stupid? Why couldn't she see how much he loved her? How much he needed her?

Great sobs racked through his body, and he curled himself tight into a ball. This pain was worse than death, and there was no escape from it. Unable to do anything else, Goku cried himself to sleep on the quiet forest floor.

***

Gohan paced back and forth across the living room of their swanky Satan City home. He was worried about his father, who's ki, since leaving the lookout, had been erratic, then disappeared entirely, before returning to some remote region in the south.

What bothered Gohan the most was that there was nothing he could do to help. He couldn't tell his dad that everything would be okay, and this wasn't a situation that could be fixed.

Worst of all, Gohan felt guilty, because he liked Tom, and had supported his mother's remarriage. Now, he felt like he had betrayed his own father.

_He should have known this would happen,_ Gohan thought, as he walked across the room once more. _But you know dad's not like that_, _he would never consider anything like this, he's too innocent._

That was the real problem, Gohan concluded. Goku Son was just too naïve for his own good, and for once life wouldn't go his way. Sighing, Gohan shook his head, and went to find his mother.

"I'm going to go see dad," Gohan told his mum, who was currently cooking dinner, "I'm worried about him."

Chi Chi merely nodded, not trusting herself to speak in case her voice cracked. She felt terrible for Goku, but at the same time couldn't help thinking he deserved it. So many times before, she had been the one left alone. Didn't he realise that?

***

Gohan landed quietly next to the sleeping form of his father. In the dappled light of the late afternoon, Gohan could see the silver lines of dried tears that adorned his father's face, and felt his chest tighten in pain. He hated seeing his dad this way.

Slowly, he sat down beside his dad, and gently stroked the black locks that fell across his father's forehead. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to wake up his dad or not, but he needed to talk to him sometime.

"Mmmph," Goku mumbled as he began to stir, his eyes squeezing shut in reaction to the sunlight that filtered through the trees.

"Hey dad," Gohan said softly, leaning over his father, "how are you feeling?"

Goku blinked, rubbing a hand over his face. The first thing he noticed was that he was cold, and smelt terrible, like he had been training all day and had not bothered to shower. Slowly, as he looked up at his son, the memories of the day came back.

"Oh," he groaned, closing his eyes as if that would make all his problems go away, "Oh shit." Quickly realizing that the sick feeling in his stomach was actually going to manifest itself physically, he barely had time to lean over before the contents of his stomach splattered onto the ground.

"Oh no, dad!" Gohan exclaimed, quickly wrapping his arms around Goku and helping him to sit up once he was finished. "It's okay dad, I'm here for you," he murmured, patting the older Saiyan on the back, "we're all here for you."

"Why?" Goku asked, looking at his son, "doesn't she know I love her?"

"Of course she does, dad," Gohan replied quietly, "but she was lonely. Really, really lonely. Mum was like an empty shell after you died, and it was only after she met Tom that she started to get a bit better."

"Tom!" Goku snorted, his hurt quickly turning to anger, "what kind of name is that? What the hell does he do anyway? He looked so… so… so _weak_!"

Gohan resisted the urge to smile at his father's comment, which seemed more like something Vegeta would say, than the usually pleasant Goku. "He's an accountant, dad. He… we… we live in Satan City now. We moved after they got married, the house at Mt Paozu is empty at the moment… Bulma said she'd buy the property off mum on your behalf, so you can go back and live there. They can't just give you back the title to the land, 'cause according to the records, you're dead, y'know."

"I don't… I don't care about property, Gohan," Goku said solemnly, "I care about your mother. She's my wife dammit!"

"Dad," Gohan said, frowning. There really wasn't any nice was to put it, "you're not her husband anymore. When you died, your marriage was absolved. That's why when you get married, the vows say 'til death do us part', you get parted when you die. Normal people don't come back to life."

"But I'm not normal!" Goku retorted, "I'm a fighter! I've saved the planet hundreds of times! And she knew I could come back!"

"No she didn't!" Gohan replied, growing angry at his father's selfishness, "you said you weren't going to come back! You said you didn't want to! You _chose_ to leave us. Don't you realise how much you hurt mum when you did that?"

"I only wanted to train for a few years!" Goku yelled, trying to explain not only to Gohan, but also to himself, "I… I was planning to come back eventually!"

"Yeah, well that's great, dad. Just leave your family for a few years, because that's perfectly acceptable behavior for someone that's meant to be the head of the household. Go away and have your fun, and then just come back expecting everyone to be ecstatic about your return. What kind of fantasy are you living in?"

Goku looked away, his shoulders slumping under the torn uniform he wore. "I… I don't know," he mumbled after a pause, "I'm an idiot."

"You just… don't think about things enough," Gohan said softly, rubbing his father's back, "but we love you anyway."

"Do you wish I was still dead?" Goku whispered.

"No!" Gohan replied, shocked, "Why would you even think that? I love you dad. I've really missed you."

"I missed you too, son. I missed everyone. I just… I didn't think this would happen."

"I know. There's always things you would do differently, in hindsight. Like with Cell… if I had have known that he would go and blow himself up, I would have never toyed around with him. If only I finished him off quicker, then you would have never died in the first place. It's all my fault, really."

Goku looked at his son, shocked by what he had just heard. "You… you don't actually think that, do you? Gohan, you saved the world! You were only eleven! You can't blame yourself for my death, it's not your fault at all."

"It's not?" Gohan questioned bitterly, "I think it is. But like I said, everyone makes mistakes. Now we just have to live with the outcomes."

Goku sighed, leaning on his son for support. "I'm sorry," he whispered softly, "I've always had trouble balancing family life with being a hero."

"I know dad," Gohan murmured back, "sometimes I think our strength is more a curse than a blessing. Every time trouble happens, we _have_ to help. If we don't, we're cowards. But if we do help… we risk our lives. And for what? So some other guy can come along and take all the credit? But we have to help, don't we?"

"Yeah, we have to help when people need us. It's all I've ever done, my entire life. I don't know how to do anything else. I'm not an _accountant_."

This time it was Gohan's turn to snort. "I'd rather have a Super Saiyan than an accountant for a dad, any day," he told his father honestly, nudging him in the side. "You're pretty cool, y'know."

The father and son continued to talk, until the sun had long sunk below the horizon. Gohan told his father more about Videl, and they laughed together over the fact that she blackmailed Gohan into entering the tournament.

"She sounds like trouble," Goku laughed, patting his son on the back, "but I'm sure you can handle her."

"Mmph, I… I like her, but I don't know what to do now," Gohan finally admitted.

"Just keep hanging out with her," Goku advised, "it'll work out for you, don't worry."

Gohan nodded, and the pair fell silent once more. Gohan looked up at the sky, a frown plastered on his face. He knew his mother would be worried about him, but he was reluctant to leave his dad.

"You've gotta go," Goku said, breaking the silence, "your mother will be worried."

"Yeah," Gohan sighed. "Look, I brought you some capsules," he said, digging into his backpack for the right container, "there's some full of food, and a little capsule house too. And there's one full of clothes- a few of my t-shirts and stuff, and two gi for you to wear. All of your old clothes are still at Mt Paozu, so when you go back there…"

"I won't be going back to Mt Paozu," Goku cut in, "I… I don't think I could handle being in that house. I'll take the capsules, though. Thanks for bringing them, you sure are smart."

"It's the least I could do, dad. Where are you going to go, then?"

"I don't know," Goku said, standing up and pulling his son to his feet, "when I was a kid, I just traveled around for years at a time. I think I'll do that again."

"Can… can Goten and I come and see you? Would you mind?"

"Of course you two can," Goku said, pulling his son into a hug, "just look for my ki, and you'll find me."

With nothing else to say, Gohan flew off in the direction of his city home. Watching his son's form disappear, Goku sighed as he began to accept his new fate. Turning back to the forest, he began to search for a place where he could settle down for the night.

Alone.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter! I really appreciate it :)

Also, in the last A/N I said Chi Chi and Tom lived in Orange Star City… I meant Satan City (well, it's the same thing)…it's 'cause I'm writing another story in the mirai timeline where it's still Orange Star City rather than being renamed after Hurcule… all you need to know is that it's the same city that Gohan goes to high school in.

Oh, and I have nothing against accountants (I even studied it at school), I just needed to give Tom a job that was the complete opposite to a martial artist, and that seemed to suit well.


	3. A new life

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z**

A new life

Goku sighed with a small smile, his eyes still closed as he shifted away from the land of dreams and back into reality. He reached instinctively for the warmth of his wife's body next to him; he could feel the mattress move as she rolled over, and could hear her even breaths, peaceful in slumber.

He reached, but found nothing.

With a jolt Goku woke, his mind clouded for a moment before the harsh reality hit him. He was not sleeping in his own bed, the blankets warm, the mattress comfy, despite its tendency to creak. Instead he was on the hard ground of a cave, a bear skin lying haphazardly over him as a makeshift blanket.

Worst of all, though, was that the warmth of his wife was not actually there; instead it was just a ghost image that remained, a reminder of what he once had.

A reminder of what he had lost.

Chi Chi was his wife no longer, he knew that now for sure, having spent the last six months coming to grip with the shock. Still, she plagued his dreams, and he was no safer in the day, either. Sometimes, he would hear her calling him in for lunch, as she always did, or see her in the distance, hanging out the washing.

For these brief moments, he would always experience relief, even happiness. But then he would blink twice, and realise she wasn't there, and the sense of loss would wash fresh over him once more.

He turned now to look out at the small patch of sky visible through the cave opening. It was dawn, the sky purple as it made the daily change from black to blue. A few stars lingered, holding on to their place in the sky, glittering like small jewels. Goku closed his eyes and sighed deeply, remembering countless times he had found joy in watching the stars.

His first memories of stargazing were hazy glimpses, but he could still remember the warmth that came with being wrapped in his grandfather's arms, and the distinct smell- a mixture of wood, grass and smoked fish- that said 'Grandpa'. He would sit on his grandpa's lap, his small tail- for he still had it, back then- wrapping around his guardian's arms, as he leaned back to look up at the sky.

Back then his grandfather had seemed so big. He shook his head now, amazed at what it meant to be an innocent child. More so now than ever before, Goku wished he could return to those times on Mount Paozu, back when he was entirely naïve about the world, and unaware of all the evils that lay in it.

Standing up now, Goku folded the bear skin neatly, leaving it beside his makeshift pillow, made out of an old shirt, stuffed with hay. He walked outside, stretching as he moved over to a nearby tree in order to relieve himself.

Looking back up at the sky, he remembered another time he had looked at the stars- this time inside a capsule house, on the day he first met Bulma.

He had found her very strange at first, and having never seen a girl before, he didn't realise why she looked so soft and squishy.

Goku laughed suddenly, shaking his head again at how dim he had been as a child. Really, it hadn't been his fault; his grandfather had been a hermit, and Bulma had been the first person to pass through the area in small Goku's entire twelve years of life. Still, he had been well into his teenage years before he had finally begun to admire the opposite sex for their curvaceous features.

This thought reminded him once more of Chi Chi, and the first time he had seen her as young woman of eighteen. She had tapped him on the shoulder, insisted that he remember her, and then stormed off when he could not recall her at all.

_And how could I have?_ he thought, wandering through the forest towards the nearest river. Chi Chi hadn't realised herself, but she had changed greatly from a child into a woman, growing taller, curvier, and far prettier too.

Goku wasn't the kind of man to remark out loud about a woman's appearance- not like Krillin, Yamcha and Master Roshi- but it didn't mean that he didn't notice women at all. In fact, the first thing that he had noticed about Chi Chi, back in the preliminaries of the twenty-third tournament, was that she was beautiful.

Of course, it had surprised and confused him after he had proposed to her at the end of their match, when she had grabbed onto his arm and refused to let go, claiming that she was 'in love' with him. He hadn't had the faintest idea of what she was doing, and had felt extremely embarrassed, being forced to walk around with a gushing girl clinging to his arm.

Reflecting on this now, Goku realised just how lucky he had been. He had grown up for the most part in secluded society, and had lacked basic skills and knowledge that were deemed necessary to everyone else. And yet it had been him who Chi Chi- a strong, healthy, attractive young woman- had chosen, rather than his more street-smart friends. She had taken and accepted him as he was, teaching him many facts about life and the world around them, and given him a son within the first year of their union.

What saddened him the most, was that he now realised how ungrateful he had been.

He had always expected her to be there, and that had been his downfall. He should have appreciated her more; why was it only now that he remembered all the backbreaking work she did?

He hadn't taken any notice at the time, but now he could recall with clarity the way she served him breakfast, lunch and dinner, on time, every day without fail. Even when she was nine months pregnant, she would wake early in order to make a meal large enough to satisfy her husband's appetite.

Countless times he had paid no attention to her as she moved about the house, dusting, vacuuming, washing, and doing countless other tasks. Goku realised now that he should have told her more often that she did a good job, and that he was lucky to have her.

Unfortunately, he would never have thought to tell her those things back then, because they had never occurred to him. It was only now, on the other side, that he saw what he had lost.

Goku stripped off his clothes now, diving into the cold river in order to catch his breakfast- one of the huge carps that swam through these rivers. Skilled as he was, it didn't take him long to catch his prey, and he jumped swiftly out of the water, not wanting to spend a moment longer in the icy current.

He shook himself like a dog, before raising his ki enough to dry him, and pulled his clothes back on quickly. Goku had always despised the cold, and it was no different now. He felt much more at home in the desert, or in thick forests, than in the snow.

The sun was up now, and the first rays sparkled on the scales of the fish as he picked it up, hauling it over his shoulder. He held it with one hand by the tail, taking it back to his camp to cook and eat. He wouldn't bother making a fire; rather he would just give the fish a small blast, enough to cook it through. It wouldn't have that nice taste that fish acquired when cooked over an open flame, but it would do.

***

It was mid morning when Goku felt the familiar ki of his two sons heading towards him. He smiled to himself- something he didn't do so often these days- and continued with his training in his Super Saiyan form. The boys came every weekend now, bringing lunch with them on the Saturday, camping overnight, and leaving Sunday afternoon.

Goku had Gohan to thank for the arrangement; his eldest son had reasoned with the boys' mother, without Goku even having to make contact with her. He hadn't seen Chi Chi since the day on the lookout, and quite frankly he would be happy if he never saw her again. It wasn't that he hated her now, not at all. It was more shame on his behalf, and the fact that he didn't know what to say to her. She had known so much of him- his mind, body and soul- but now her loyalty lay with another.

It was hard not to feel betrayed.

Jealousy was an evil creature, one that had seemed to take hold of him in the last six months. Truth be told, he had never felt envious of anyone else before this; a fact that was extremely unusual considering his age.

The reason behind this though, was simple. In all his life, Goku had always had everything he desired. He had never wanted money, fame or technology- he was always satisfied living in the wilderness. But the one thing he craved- strength- he had always had. Never in his entire adult life had Goku been anything but the strongest, save the Cell Games when Gohan surpassed him. That had been Goku's own doing though, Gohan would not have become so strong were it not for his father's training in the time chamber, and Goku took pride in that fact.

So now, for the first time in his life, he could understand how Vegeta felt, being deprived of something he desperately wanted.

_At least Vegeta can fight me if he wants_, Goku thought bitterly, continuing to throw punches into the air. Being a Saiyan, it was only natural that Goku felt like settling issues with his fists, but it would never be possible to do so with Tom. One punch would kill the weak man.

And despite his own hurt, he would never want to do that. Tom was simply an innocent agent, caught up now in the world of aliens and martial artists. Goku may have been affected negatively by Chi Chi's remarriage, but he still held onto his morals. He wouldn't lay hands against an innocent man.

"Daddy!" Goten called, seeing the glowing form of his father floating above the forest.

Goku turned at this, grinning and waving at his boys. "Hey kids!" he replied, laughing as his youngest Super Saiyan bowled straight into him, capturing him in a bone-crushing hug. Gohan held back a little, waiting until Goten backed off before hugging his father himself, grinning at his little brother's antics.

"Are you hungry?" Gohan asked his father, quite unnecessarily considering Goku's reputation for loving food.

"Of course!" Goku replied, phasing out of his Super Saiyan form, "I'm starved!"

The three Sons landed on the grass outside Goku's latest camp. Gohan always took great pains to track his father's whereabouts, as Goku's Instant Transmission technique meant the Saiyan man tended to move places without a second thought. Thankfully, the ki of a Super Saiyan was easy to track.

Something Gohan had noticed, however, bothered him greatly, and he was hoping to have a chance this weekend to discuss it with his father. Every time Gohan felt another great ki approach Goku- whether it be Krillin, Piccolo or Yamcha- Gohan would sense his father use the Instant Transmission technique, moving in an instant to the other side of the world.

It was obvious that his father was avoiding everyone else, but Gohan knew this couldn't be doing the man any good. His father couldn't keep avoiding his problems forever- eventually he would have to face them head on, and deal with it once and for all. He hoped Goku realised his friends only wanted to help, and that none of them thought badly of the man.

Most of all, Gohan hoped that his dad would be happy again, like he used to be.

It wasn't that Goku didn't appear happy to see his sons; on the contrary, Gohan could see his father's face light up as he saw them. But Gohan was a perceptive young man, and saw the way his father's shoulders slumped, the way he sighed in anguish before going to bed, and the way Goku's eyes looked so sad, whenever he let his guard down.

Gohan pulled out the capsule full of food, throwing it out on the ground so that the large fridge expanded suddenly with a 'whoosh'. The fridge had been a gift from Bulma, but every weekend it was filled to the brim with Chi Chi's cooking, prepared on the Saturday morning for the boys' camping trips.

Goku knew it was Chi Chi's food, he could tell simply by the smell. In all his time, he hadn't come across another who cooked as good as her. At first, the idea of eating food prepared by Chi Chi had made Goku lose his appetite, but now it hardly bothered him. He couldn't deny his stomach, and after a week of eating game and fish, food from his ex-wife tasted delicious.

Goku stopped, a chicken wing paused halfway towards his mouth. Both his sons paused in reaction to his movements, looking over to their father with identical questioning eyes. Goku smiled in return, and continued to eat, frowning to himself as he pondered what he had just thought. _Since when did I acknowledge that she's my ex?_

Ex was a funny word to Goku; when applied to people, he had always imagined it to signify a messy break-up, or a conscious decision to stop being with another.

The thing was, Goku had never chosen to stop being with Chi Chi. In his mind, she had always been his wife, right up until he had seen her, standing hand-in-hand next to Tom. It had taken him some time to grasp the fact that she had been married to another man for three years already, and therefore had not been his wife in all of that time.

He wondered briefly if she ever thought of him, or if she woke from a dream thinking it was he who lay beside her. It made him feel jealous all over again, to think of Tom lying beside her, lying with her… with his weak hands all over her body.

_It should be me there_, he thought, the anger curbing his appetite. _Damn it, she was mine. How could she have forgotten that?_

***

"Dad," Gohan said, walking up to his father in the afternoon. "Dad, all the guys want to talk to you, and Bulma's been hassling me again. You have to go see them, sometime." Goku merely nodded, not bothering to look up from his task of sharpening a wooden spear.

"Dad!" Gohan suddenly yelled, fed up with his father's mood swings. In an instant he grabbed the older man's shoulders and shook him hard, hoping to scare some sense into him. "You have to talk to them! They are your friends! At least let Krillin see you!"

"Fine!" Goku yelled back, standing up and throwing the spear down so hard that it shattered into pieces. "Fine! I'll see them, and what will they say? Huh? I just don't want to deal with it right now!"

"But you have to," Gohan replied, calming down a little now that he had his father's attention. Goten had wandered off to pick wild apples, and he was glad his little brother wasn't there to interrupt for the moment. "Dad," he began again, "you have to face it sometime. You can't hide in the forest forever. I'll always love you, Dad, but I'd rather not have a hermit for a father."

"The forest is my home," Goku replied.

"Mount Paozu is your home," Gohan said sternly, "you need to go back there, it's where you grew up. And you need to stop avoiding people… I don't care if you don't want to see Mum, but Krillin and Bulma and all the others, you've gotta see them. Plus I'm graduating next month… you're not going to miss that, are you?"

"No… of course not, I'll be there," Goku replied sincerely. He wouldn't miss his son's graduation.

"Good, because I'd be hurt if you skipped out on it. Bulma's throwing me and Videl a party for it after, I want you to come to that too."

Goku sighed, shaking his head. "All right, Son. Don't let it worry you, I'll be there." He looked the teenager up and down once more, shaking his head again. Every time he saw his eldest son it shocked him; he had left the Earth when he was just a little boy, and yet now Gohan stood before him as a man.

"Guess I'll have to make a new spear," Goku commented, more to himself than to Gohan. Looking back up at the young man, he chuckled. "Tell me, Son, when was it that you suddenly got so demanding?"

Gohan opened his mouth to reply, then shut it again. There was no sense in upsetting his father more, so it was better to not say anything at all.

_When you left me in charge as the man of the house_, Gohan thought bitterly, _when I was eleven._

***

"Mama has a baby in her tummy!" Goten remarked happily, as the three strolled through the forest, hunting for dinner. Gohan automatically hissed at his younger brother, grabbing him tightly by the arm, making the little boy yelp in surprise. Gohan shook his head violently, he had told Goten to keep quiet about that.

Looking up, Gohan watched as his father's face changed from shock, to horror, and finally to anger. The older man blinked suddenly, turning his back to the boys, and took three deep breaths, before turning back around, his face blank, hiding all his thoughts.

"Chi Chi's pregnant?" he asked gruffly, looking Gohan in the eye.

"Three months," Gohan replied, "I… I thought there was something, about a month ago… but she didn't tell us until yesterday."

"You weren't going to tell me," Goku said, more a statement than a question. "You would have had to tell me sometime, you know."

"Yeah," Gohan replied, looking down, "I'm sorry, Dad," he mumbled.

Goku paused, feeling rather numb. He knew he had to say something, but the words seemed to get caught in his throat, choking him from the inside out. "Tell… tell your mother…" he finally said, swallowing once more before continuing, "and Tom… tell them… congratulations. From me."

Gohan nodded, aware of how hard this was for his father. "I will, Dad."

"Well come on then," Goku remarked, changing the subject, and lifted Goten easily onto his shoulders, "Dinner isn't going to catch itself." He wasn't going to let the boys see that he was upset, not if he could help it. Inside though, he felt sick.

_It should be me there. That child should be mine._

***

Little Goten couldn't sleep. He was lying in his own sleeping bag, near the fire inside his Daddy's cave. It wasn't that he was cold, or lonely; it was just that he was… sad.

This confused him though, because it wasn't the normal kind of sad. That kind happened when he hurt himself, or when Mr. Vegeta growled at him, but none of that had happened today.

In fact, Goten was very happy for himself. He was going to be a big brother, and that was very exciting. He couldn't wait to see the baby; he wanted it to hurry up and grow, even though he knew Mummy had told him it would take another six months to get ready to come out. He giggled to himself now, remembering how Mama had told him she would get very fat. He thought a fat Mummy would look funny.

But then he rolled over, and remembered once more why he was sad- and more importantly, whom he was sad for. He was looking at his Daddy now, who was lying asleep, facing the wall of the cave.

Gohan had told him that morning not to tell Daddy about the new baby, but he had been so excited that he had forgotten, and the news had slipped out. He hadn't understood at the time why Gohan didn't want Daddy to know, but now he realised that it had upset Daddy.

He didn't know why his Daddy got so sad sometimes, only that Gohan had told him once that Daddy was lonely. He hadn't understood at first, because he didn't think his Daddy should be lonely with him and Gohan visiting him all the time, but then Trunks told him that dads got lonely when mums didn't go to bed with them.

"_My dad always gets real grumpy when he has to sleep on the couch instead of in bed with my mum,"_ Trunks had said, _"so maybe that's what's wrong with your dad, he can't sleep in your mum's bed."_

Goten nodded to himself now, realizing that his Daddy must be lonely for his Mummy, even though Mummy had told him that she had stopped being married to his Daddy a long time ago. Maybe his Daddy was sad now because he wanted to be the new baby's Daddy, instead of Tom.

Goten huffed, slipping out of his sleeping bag and rubbing his eyes. All of this thinking was making his head hurt, and he still felt sad for his Daddy.

Not knowing what else to do, he tiptoed over to his Daddy's sleeping form, and crouched down near the big man's head.

"Poor Daddy," he whispered to himself, seeing that the man's cheeks were wet with tears. "Don't be sad, Daddy. Me an' Gohan love you."

He patted his Daddy's head, then decided he didn't want to go back to his own bed. Instead he slipped under the bear skin, not caring that his father slept on the hard ground instead of a camping mattress. He snuggled close to his Daddy's chest, trying not to make too much noise.

"Mmm? Goten?" his Daddy mumbled, blinking sleepily.

"Go to sleep, Daddy," Goten whispered, "I love you. I'll keep you safe."

Goten's Daddy smiled back down at him. "I know, Son," he replied, his big arms wrapping around Goten and pulling him closer. "I love you too, my baby."

* * *

**A/N**: Sorry about the slow update, I had writer's block… mainly because I knew what was going to happen in later chapters, but had trouble deciding how to get there. I've sorted that out now, so updates should come faster. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. :)


	4. Strange Murmurs

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z.**

Strange Murmurs

Goku blocked his sons' attacks as if they were nothing. He was in his Super Saiyan Three form now, something which he didn't normally use unless absolutely necessary. However, the boys had goaded him into using his full power for a two-on-one spar, before it was time for them to go home.

Suddenly Gohan pulled back, dropping out of his Super Saiyan state. Goten quickly shot back too, moving himself behind his older brother. Goten thought his dad looked scary in his final transformation, and didn't want to spar with the man alone.

"Oh come on, boys," Goku said, crossing his arms and frowning, the ridges above his eyes protruding even more than usual. "Don't tell me you've had enough all ready. I'm barely warmed up!"

Gohan smirked, tensing his muscles. "No Dad," he replied, "I'm just getting started."

In an instant Gohan powered up, bringing out the latent power the Old Kai had released in him. His hair rose in black spikes, save for one bang that lay across his forehead, while his muscles increased in size, and his ki grew to the point that he almost rivaled his father.

"Oh," Goku remarked, "so you want to use _that_ form. Well, come on then, show me what you've got."

As Gohan rushed forward Goten decided to stay back, realizing that his older brother would probably just complain that he got in his way. It wasn't that Gohan was a mean brother; on the contrary, Gohan was the best big brother around, in Goten's opinion. Still, Goten recognised a real fight when he saw one, and he thought it was better to stay out of the way of two clashing super-beings, especially considering they were both so much stronger than him.

Gohan continued to spar with his father, putting everything he had into the friendly fight. Despite this, Goku continued to have the upper hand, blocking and dodging all the attacks with ease. Fed up with the fact that he seemed to be getting nowhere at all, Gohan utilized the first opening in his father's defence that he saw.

Phasing out of sight for a moment, Gohan moved quick enough to surprise his father with an attack from above, and brought both his hands down on the older man's head with a sickening thud.

Too late, Gohan realised he had put too much into the attack, as his father struggled momentarily for consciousness. Goku's body eventually gave way, his hair turning from gold to black, as the great Saiyan began to fall rapidly from the skies.

Gohan swooped down and caught his father, lowering him carefully onto the ground, and began checking the man's vital signs immediately. To his relief, everything appeared to be fine, and Gohan sighed, knowing that at worst, Goku would wake with a bad headache.

"Gohan!" Goten yelled at his older brother, his little hands placed on his hips, "That was too hard! You hurt Dad really bad!"

"_I know_, Goten," Gohan replied, his voice tinted with irritation, "Look, can you go wet a cloth in the river and bring it here? I'll put it on Dad's head."

"Okay," Goten replied with a pout, "but I think what he really needs is a senzu, after that one."

"Yeah, well do you see any senzu here, kiddo? Besides, he can't eat one while he's knocked out." With that, Gohan shooed his brother away, and made himself comfortable in the grass knowing that it would be a while before Goku woke again.

***

"Uh… what happened?" Goku moaned, his hand automatically going to his head, which currently felt as if it had been split open. It throbbed in time with his pulse, and sharp pains shot through as he opened his eyes. Using his other arm to shield his eyes from the blinding light, Goku tried to look around, and remember what had happened.

"I'm right here, Dad," a voice said, from somewhere near his head, "I hit you too hard, sorry. You got knocked out. How are you feeling?"

"Hmm? Gohan, that you?" Goku asked, blinking and looking up. The familiar face of his eldest popped into view, hovering above his own. "Hey Son," he continued, giving a faint grin which promptly turned into a grimace as another sharp pain shot through his head, "I feel like shit. That was a bloody tough hit you landed."

"Huh," Gohan replied, mildly relieved to see his father was speaking, even if what he was saying was a bit out of character for the man. "I don't think I've ever heard you use two bad words in such close succession before, Dad."

"Yeah? Well my head hurts like hell. I've used more words than that before," Goku continued, feeling more as if he were in a dream than anything else, "your mother used to like me talking dirty to her."

"What? Um… I didn't… I didn't really want to know that, Dad," Gohan replied, blush forming on his cheeks. "Man, Goten should be back by now," he added, looking around, "I sent him to bring back a wet cloth for your head."

"Does Videl get you to do that?" Goku asked, closing his eyes and wincing. Fluorescent stars still seemed to be blinking behind his eyelids.

"Do what? Get her wet cloths?" Gohan asked, completely confused by Goku's comments. _Maybe the head injury is worse than I originally thought,_ he wondered to himself.

"No, silly. Does she get you to talk dirty? You know… does she like it rough?"

"Dad!" Gohan exclaimed, his voice breaking as his cheeks flamed red, "What the hell are you on about? No! No, I wouldn't do that! Don't ask me those sorts of questions! What's gotten into you?"

"Ugh, my head just feels bad, okay?" Goku sat up at that, leaning forward to rest his head between his knees, "forget what I said. Sorry, my brain isn't working right at the moment."

"Daddy's awake!" Goten yelled, interrupting the conversation, "I brought the cloth!"

"What took you so long?" Gohan grumbled, taking the item from Goten's hands. "Is this my t-shirt?"

"You didn't say which cloth to use," Goten replied, "so I had to look around for ages. Mummy said not to get my clothes wet, but she didn't say that to you, so I got your shirt."

Gohan rolled his eyes, and wrapped the soggy t-shirt around his father's head. "That feel better?" he asked tenderly.

"Yeah, it does," Goku replied, "don't worry about me, I've been in worse condition before. I'll be fine."

With that, Goku's two sons helped him to his feet, and back to their camp. Goku insisted that he would be all right alone, and after much convincing, the boys decided to pack up and head home. They made sure their father would have enough food to last him until the next day, and then each hugged their father goodbye, promising to return the next weekend.

***

'_Destroy all life forms. Destroy all life forms. Look at the moon, Kakarot.'_

Goku woke from a nightmare, drenched in sweat. It was the first time since coming back to Earth that he hadn't dreamt of Chi Chi, which should have been a relief.

But this new dream was even worse.

It wasn't really coherent, more a flash of different images, none of which made any sense. Already, he was forgetting what the dream was really about, only that there was a lot of red in it, and a strange, computerized voice, saying something disturbing to him.

He rubbed his head gingerly, avoiding the huge lump which was now on it. Gohan had really hit him hard, he'd have to remember not to tease the kid so much while sparring, next time. He tried to remember what the voice in his dream had said, but he couldn't pin it down.

"Oh well," he mumbled to himself, and blushed, remembering what he had said to Gohan after his injury. "Woops," he murmured, "too much information, Dad."

And with that, he fell back into a dreamless sleep.

***

A few days later, Goku paced back and forth, trying to decide what to do next. His hands were sweaty, and he rubbed them absentmindedly on his worn gi. The clothing he was wearing now were the best that he had, but there were still a few holes in it, here and there.

_They'd say something about that, too_, he thought.

He could sense Krillin's ki at Capsule Corp, most likely Eighteen would be there too, with their daughter. He knew he aught to take Gohan's advice and stop avoiding his friends, and so today he had woken up early, to shave and make himself look as presentable as he could, given the circumstances.

He had never really cared about how he looked before, but he didn't want his friends to think he wasn't handling the situation now, and so had made the extra effort.

Still, he felt really nervous about seeing them all again.

_At least I shouldn't look so tired now_, he thought with a sigh. After that strange dream which he couldn't remember, Goku had slept peacefully, and no longer dreamed about Chi Chi. After six long months, it was a relief. _I'll have to thank Gohan for hitting me over the head; I think it's fixed that problem._

He still thought about her during the day, but at least he didn't keep thinking he was in bed with her. It was already hard enough being a bachelor with no women around, without the dreams to tease him.

"What do you think?" Goku said, speaking to a small monkey, which had stopped in a tree near him, "Should I go see Bulma, or stay here?"

The monkey cocked its head to the side, as if in deep thought. Goku grinned; he knew that it didn't actually understand him, but he had always spoken to animals, ever since he was a child. Suddenly, the monkey let out a loud hoot, and promptly threw a rotten piece of fruit at Goku's head.

"Fine," Goku replied, pouting. "I'll go. You're no fun to be around, anyway."

The monkey bared his teeth in reply, jumping up and down on his branch. Goku put two fingers to his head, and in an instant, was gone.

* * *

**A/N:** This story is going to have a lot of twists in it, but I'm not going to make it ridiculously far fetched (as far as DBZ goes- which is pretty random in itself), and Goku will always be a good guy (just incase I had some of you worried). Also, I know what Goku said to Gohan may have been a little OOC, but he had just woken up after a blow to the head, so I thought it would be excusable. Besides, just 'cause he doesn't say dodgy things normally doesn't mean he doesn't think them (that's just my theory… he did have two kids after all, and he did promise Old Kai nude pictures of Bulma in the Japanese version!)


	5. Odd Moments

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z.**

Odd Moments

Goku appeared in the middle of Bulma's lounge, scaring Dr Briefs' cat, which had been taking a nap on the floor.

"Sorry," he told the cat, who had taken to hissing at him.

"Scratch?" Bulma called from the balcony adjoining the lounge, "Scratchy-baby, what's wrong, honey?" She got up from one of the deck chairs- her and Eighteen were sunbathing- and walked through the glass doors, all the time muttering about her father's crazy cat.

She saw two pairs of familiar blue boots, and looked up, gasping as she took in the orange gi, complete with blue undershirt, worn by the tall Saiyan who had been in her thoughts every day for the last six months.

"Goku!" she screamed, and at once launched herself across the room, wrapping her arms around his neck, for fear that he would disappear again. "Oh, Goku," she sobbed, "I've been so worried about you! Why didn't you come earlier?"

"Uh… Bulma… uh… I think you should stop hugging me now," Goku stuttered, heat rushing to his face… and other areas.

"Why? 'Cause you're worried that you smell?" she replied, still clinging to him, "Geez, Goku, I've known you since you were twelve, I don't care if you stink!"

"Its not that…" he mumbled, "you… ah… forgot to do your top up… ah…"

At this Bulma froze, looking down to realise that she had in fact forgotten to tie her bikini strings back around her neck, and as such, the bikini top was now dangling precariously around her waist. At the same time, she also noticed that Goku's body had- much to her embarrassment- reacted quickly to the situation.

"_Goku!_" she said in a scandalized tone, jumping back and turning around, fumbling haphazardly with the strings in a vain attempt to rectify the situation. "Damn it! Why won't this thing tie up?"

"What's going on here?" Eighteen asked, leaning casually on the balcony doors. "Did you forget to tie up your strings again?" she asked, her mouth turned up in an amused smile.

"It's not funny, Eighteen! Just get over here and help me with this!" Bulma hissed, sending the blonde android a death glare.

"Hmm," Eighteen murmured, taking note of the fact that Goku was also readjusting himself while she fixed up Bulma, "I think someone needs to find a girl."

"Shhh…" Bulma hissed again, "Saiyans have advanced hearing, y'know."

By now, Goku was seriously considering leaving, and not showing his face at Capsule Corp for another six months. He was mortified that his body had reacted that way, and cursed the offending appendage repeatedly in his mind. _You do me more harm than good!_ he told it silently, _How embarrassing, and with Bulma!_ He was relieved to sense Vegeta's ki at a safe distance, away in the gravity generator, and not anywhere near here.

"Goku," Bulma said quietly, "Goku, I've got a towel on now, it's okay to look. I'm really sorry, that was all my fault."

"Don't… worry," he mumbled, scratching his head nervously, "I'm… sorry, too."

Bulma blushed, nodding her head. "We'll just forget that ever happened," she replied, "I'll… um… just go and get changed. Are you hungry? Help yourself to the fridge. Krillin is around here somewhere, too." With that she ran out of the room, her bare feet padding softly on the carpet, while she continued to curse under her breath.

_For crying out loud, Bulma Briefs_, she told herself, _for a genius, you sure are stupid sometimes!_

Meanwhile, Goku had made his way over to the kitchen, and was hoping to drown out the pictures of Bulma he had in his head, with the taste of good food.

"Don't let it worry you," Eighteen said dryly, now wrapped in a robe herself, "she flashed Krillin by accident last week. Same thing happened."

Goku blinked at her, his cheeks growing hot again. He went to speak, but then realised his mouth was stuffed full of sandwich, and instead shrugged, and moved back into the lounge, avoiding eye contact.

"I'll go find Krillin," Eighteen announced, striding out and leaving Goku alone. He sighed, burying his head in his hands. _At least she didn't talk about Chi Chi_, he thought to himself, although that was hardly relief.

He had heard Eighteen's comment to Bulma, and unfortunately, it was true. He hadn't been with a woman since Chi Chi, and the last time with her was around eight years ago now. That couldn't be healthy for a man.

Of course, it wasn't a problem in Other World. Being dead meant those kind of bodily functions didn't matter, just like it wasn't necessary to eat, drink or sleep. Now, though, Goku was feeling the burn that came with being single.

"Goku!" Krillin yelled, running through the doorway and flinging himself at the taller man, "Oh, man, buddy, I've been worried about you, you know? But Gohan told us you were doing okay… how are you holding up?"

Suddenly, Goku felt very tired about keeping up the façade that he was fine. He didn't want to let his sons see how bad he felt, but Krillin was his best friend. Shaking his head slowly, he looked at Krillin, a lost look in his eye. "I'm not good," he whispered, "I… I don't know what to do… without her."

Krillin nodded slowly, opening and closing his mouth, unable to find the right words. He had never seen Goku look so depressed; it was normally the opposite of what Goku was. Finally, he settled for patting the Saiyan on the back. "Well, I'm here for you, buddy. You can talk about it, if you want."

Goku shook his head, running a hand through his hair, and down over his face. "She's pregnant, did you hear that? That… that… _wife-stealer_… got her pregnant!"

"Sheesh… are you serious?" Krillin asked, "I didn't know that. How did you find out? I mean, if you don't mind me asking…"

"Goten told me. Gohan wasn't going to tell me, though."

"Oh. Well, you know Gohan, he always does what he thinks is right. He really loves you, you know. We all do. Hey, should I tell Yamcha you're here?"

"No," Goku replied quickly, "I'll… see him some other time. Not today, please."

"All right, man," Krillin replied, "don't worry about it."

***

Bulma plopped herself down on the couch beside Goku, who, for the past hour, had been sitting, staring at the blank TV like a zombie. Krillin had eventually given up on trying to talk to the man, and had instead begun a board game with his small daughter, Marron, and Bulma's son, Trunks, on the floor near Goku's feet.

"Aww, man! You beat us again!" Krillin said, folding his arms and leaning back as he looked at Trunks, "How did you get so good at Connect Four?"

"Mum says I'm a genius," Trunks replied, puffing out his chest with pride, "I _never_ lose!"

Goku's eyes flicked down at Trunks, looking at the boy once again. He was a strange mix of Vegeta and Bulma, Goku concluded, and very different to the Trunks that had come from the future.

"So," Bulma whispered into Goku's ear, "we won't say anything to _someone_ about what happened earlier, will we?"

Goku looked at Bulma and blushed a little, nodding. The last thing he wanted was for Vegeta to find out about the embarrassing incident.

"Did Eighteen tell you the same thing happened last week?" she continued, "I mean, I didn't hug Krillin… but I could see what was going on from where I was standing! Maybe I should just fake tan from now on, what do you think? Vegeta says he hates the smell of the stuff… do you think its smellier to Saiyans than humans?"

Goku smiled a little; glad to know that Bulma hadn't changed at all since the last time he had truly spoken to her, eight years before. "Yeah," he said quietly, wrinkling up his nose, "that fake tan stuff does smell really bad."

"Damn… oh well," Bulma mumbled, leaning back into the couch and looking at Goku's uniform. "Do you need some new clothes? I've got lots in storage that will fit you, you know, they're all Capsule Corp ones, but they'll look nice on you. And I have some Saiyan battle suits for you too, if you want."

"Okay," Goku replied, although his voice lacked the enthusiasm Bulma was used to, "thanks."

"I'm here for you, Goku," she said suddenly, squeezing his hand, "you know that, don't you?"

Goku nodded, and then began to cry.

***

Vegeta looked with wide eyes at the scene before him. There, on his couch, lay his arch rival; the man's head resting comfortably in his wife's lap.

What pissed Vegeta off even more was that Bulma hadn't even noticed his presence; instead she continued to coo over Goku's head as if he were a baby, stroking his hair, and even kissing him!

Vegeta growled low in his throat, and Bulma looked up, sympathy plastered all over her face. "Oh, hey hubby," she greeted him nonchalantly, "can you bring me a glass of water? I think Goku could do with a drink."

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the beauty before him, his lips pressed together in a thin line. "Let me get this straight," he began. "You want _me_, the Prince of Saiyans, to get _him_, a low class, pathetic cry baby, a glass of water, while you, _my wife_, cradle him as if he were your mate!"

"Oh for crying out loud Vegeta!" Bulma yelled, "Do you always have to be so mean? Can't you see Goku's sad? Fine! Don't help, you lazy bastard!"

"Lazy? I've been training all day! Unlike some people," he added, glancing at Goku, who's head remained in Bulma's lap, his eyes staring at nothing in particular.

"Just shut up," she snapped back at the prince, "Trunks, get me a glass of water, okay?"

"Ahh… okay mum," Trunks said, carefully avoiding his father's glare. The nine-year-old hated it when he was forced to take sides in his parent's arguments.

As it was, Goku didn't even do as much as blink when Bulma offered him the water. Fed up by this nonsense, Vegeta grabbed the other Saiyan by his feet, flinging the man onto his shoulder in one movement. He stormed onto the balcony, shut the door behind him, and dumped Goku on the ground.

"Wake up!" he yelled at the younger man, who simply looked back up at him with a confused frown. "This isn't getting you anywhere, Kakarot!"

Goku looked away, pulling himself to his feet. "Look, I'm just going to go now, okay. I don't want to talk about it." He was stopped, however, by the prince's hand on his arm.

"You think _I_ want to talk to you about it? No! But I'm sick of this bullshit of yours," Vegeta replied.

"So let me go, Vegeta, and you won't have to deal with it."

"I deal with it every fucking day," Vegeta replied, jerking his head in the direction of his wife. "She worries about you all the time, and it's driving me crazy. Do you know what its like, having to listen to _'oh, poor Goku'_ all day long?"

Goku looked over to his friends, who were all watching them through the glass, although they were trying to be inconspicuous about it. For the first time, Goku realised how much his mood was affecting them all.

"You have to let it go, Kakarot. You are a Saiyan warrior… what happened to the man who fought Buu?" Vegeta paused, waiting for Goku to respond. Instead, Goku stared past Vegeta's shoulder into nothing, as if he were seeing something that wasn't there.

"Kakarot?" Vegeta asked, beginning to wonder if there was something seriously wrong with the man.

'_Kakarot'_, came the voice, and Goku recognised it instantly as the one from his dream, _'You are a Saiyan warrior. Your mission is to eradicate all life on Planet Earth. Return to Planet Vegeta once this task is complete.'_

Goku blinked, trying to shake the voice from his head. The voice disappeared, but then he began to see things- pictures- that flashed quickly through his mind.

'_Kakarot. Destroy all life forms.'_

"Kakarot. KAKAROT!" Vegeta yelled, shaking Goku by the shoulders.

"Huh? What?" Goku asked, suddenly back in the real world. _What the hell was that?_ he thought to himself, as he pulled Vegeta's arms off him. "I'm… fine," he mumbled, frowning. "I just remembered something, I have to go. Tell Bulma I'm fine… I don't… I'm not worried about Chi Chi now. Bye."

Goku used his instant transmission to take him back to his camp. He looked around, and shuddered as a shiver ran down his spine.

_What was that?_

* * *

**A/N:** This isn't one of those stories where Goku suddenly becomes 'Kakarot'. Goku's simply remembering some things… and you'll have to wait until the next chapter to see what happens. Thanks to all the people who have reviewed so far!


	6. The Haunting Past

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z.**

The Haunting Past

Goku lay on his side, willing his eyes to stay open, despite the fact that he was in desperate need of sleep. He'd lain like this for two nights now, not letting himself succumb to the temptation of slumber, even though his body craved it.

But he couldn't trust himself anymore.

Ever since he had had that vision at Capsule Corp, almost a month earlier, his dreams had become more and more vivid, each time showing more death, destruction and despair. And through it all, the voice would play, over and over again.

'_Destroy all life forms.'_

Goku jumped, his breath coming heavy. _I must have fallen asleep_, he thought, _oh shit, I can't keep this up._

He'd been all right when the boys had come to visit him, it seemed that their presence made the dreams disappear, but after his sons had left the last weekend, the dreams returned even worse than before.

He still valued the lives of innocent people over anything else; and no matter what that voice said, he refused to listen to it. But it was still there, hounding away, and the dreams terrified him. Had Vegeta been subjected to this?

He knew he was a low class, and would have been treated different from Vegeta. Hell, he _knew_ that now; it had taken him a few days to realise that the dreams and voices were memories, hidden away somewhere after he hit his head as a baby, but then it had hit him.

What horrified him the most, was that he had no doubt that had he never hit his head the first time, he would have become one of the monsters who played in his dreams. That was something he did not want to know.

Goku knew that the Saiyans had been bad, the encounters with Raditz and Nappa, even Vegeta, had made him realise that. But to see it first hand; to see images of cold- hearted monsters murdering millions, to be made to watch just how terrible his kind were… it made him sick.

It was even worse than all the trouble with Chi Chi. Goku looked to the stars once again, asking, pleading, that someone, somewhere could have mercy on him, and make all these bad things end. Did he really deserve this? Hadn't he done enough good things in his lifetime, to make up for all of his mistakes?

_Damn it!_ It hadn't been his fault that he had been born Saiyan; that hadn't been his choice. But he had always made the best of his life, in his opinion, and he'd always tried to do what was right.

He couldn't handle this. He couldn't…

_A man stood in front of him, his eyes cold and hard. His hair rose in a familiar style, and Goku recognised him immediately, even before the voice began._

'_This is your king, King Vegeta. You must be loyal to the crown, as all Saiyans are… This is your prince, Prince Vegeta…'_

_An image of a young boy took the king's place, but the child mimicked his father's cold stare perfectly. He wore the royal clothing too, the crest of his family shown proudly on his breastplate._

_Then a picture of an alien loomed in front of him; he already knew who it was, but the voice told him anyway. _

'_This is Lord Frieza. The Saiyans are loyal to Lord Frieza.'_

'_Kakarot, you are a Saiyan warrior. Your mission is to eradicate all life on Planet Earth. Return to Planet Vegeta once this task is complete.'_

'_Look at the moon, Kakarot'_

_The moon shone ahead of him, he could feel the power of it pounding in his blood, and his tail flicked excitedly behind him. It was coming, he needed to transform, he needed the strength, and he needed the blood._

_He needed to kill._

'_Destroy all life forms.'_

_There wasn't a moon anymore, but it didn't matter, he'd kill them anyway. It was easy, really. Their necks broke like twigs, and their blood ran like water, painting him in red. Part of him still knew this was wrong, part of him knew this was a nightmare, just a dream, and that he could never really do this._

_But he could. He could taste their blood; he could smell their fear._

_And he loved every second of it._

"No!" Goku woke with a yell, jumping to his feet, pulling at his hair like a possessed man. "No, No, NO! I'm not like that! I'M NOT!" he screamed, transforming as the anger overtook him. He punched the wall of the cave, and the whole structure began to crumble around him. He didn't care; all he wanted was for the memories to stop.

He rammed his head on a rock- maybe he could knock them out of his head again- but it didn't work. Nothing worked, and it was driving him slowly insane. He wasn't a monster, he _refused_ to be one.

He didn't know what to do.

Slowly, he calmed down, and went to the river to bathe. The water felt good, almost as if it could exorcise the demons that plagued him, and he sighed in relief. The voice didn't come during the day.

For the first time, he looked around, realizing that it neared midday, with the sun looming high above. He scratched his head, knowing that there was _something_ he had to do today.

"Shit!" he exclaimed suddenly, "Gohan's graduation!"

He rushed back to the cave, digging about the rubble in order to find the right capsule- the one Gohan had left him, which contained clothes fit for such an occasion. It took him a good five minutes, but he found them eventually.

He was glad they had been in the capsule; they would have been a mess, otherwise. He looked back down at his hands with disdain; they were covered in dirt. Wasting no time, he used his Instant Transmission to take him to the river once more, and dove straight in, ripping off his old clothes in a hurry.

Rubbing his nose, he realised he hadn't shaved in two weeks, and a small beard thus covered his face, the whiskers scratching noisily against his hand now. No matter, he didn't have time for shaving. The ceremony started at noon, and he had to be there on time.

Using his ki to dry himself off, he quickly dressed, getting more and more flustered with every attempt to fix his tie right.

"Oh, stuff it!" he grumbled, throwing the strip of fabric on the ground. He could never get those things to work; Chi Chi had always done it for him.

A jolt ran through him as he thought of her again, but he shook it off. He needed to concentrate now; he had to find Gohan's ki. He hoped he wasn't too late.

* * *

"Daddy! You made it!" Goten exclaimed, immediately jumping into his arms as he appeared in front of the school. Gohan was there in his cap and gown, Videl standing beside him. He looked up at the huge clock that sat on the school's main building, and breathed a sigh of relief, as it was only quarter to twelve. He hadn't missed it.

"What happened to your tie, Dad?" Gohan asked, looking his father up and down. "And you didn't shave either… this isn't a permanent look, is it?"

"Why?" Goku asked, scratching his beard, "Does it look bad?" Truth be told, Goku didn't want a beard- it made his face itch- but he had been in too much of a bad mood to try shaving in the last week.

"No!" Gohan replied, waving his hands in front of him, "It's just… different. You're not… going through one of those mid-life crisis things are you?"

Goku folded his arms, giving his eldest son a straight stare. "Do I look like I am?" he asked, one eyebrow raised. "No, I'm not. I just, couldn't be bothered with the shaving, and then I slept in this morning, and didn't have time to fix it up. That's why I gave up on the tie, too."

"Oh," Gohan said, nodding his head, "yeah, I had trouble with the tie, too. I got mum to do it." Too late, he realised he'd mentioned the wrong thing, as he watched his father's eyes harden.

"Well," Goku replied curtly, "I don't have a wife or a mother to fix my ties."

To Gohan's relief, Goten chose this moment to pipe up about the texture of his father's facial hair, exclaiming loudly that it was 'so scratchy!' Goku chuckled in response, throwing the little boy high in the air before catching him again.

"We better get going," Videl murmured quietly, and the four walked towards the school hall, all of them silent save for little Goten, who chattered happily away.

* * *

Goku stood in the corner, too tired, and far too angry, to socialize at all. They were back at Capsule Corp; all of the fighters, even Vegeta, had turned out to show Gohan their support. It wasn't their presence at the gathering that angered Goku.

It was Tom's.

There he stood, that puny, weak little man, with his arm always on Chi Chi's back, as if he owned her. And every now and then, the man's other hand would move round, to rub her stomach, at the same time rubbing it all in Goku's face.

Goku snarled under his breath, wrinkling up his nose in distaste of the display. Really, it was pathetic, the way Tom followed Chi Chi round like a dog. Goku rolled his eyes, and poked his tongue out at Tom's back.

If Goku thought he was keeping his feelings hidden, he was poorly mistaken. The angry vibes rolled off him in waves, scaring all the high school students present, save Gohan and Videl.

"Don't you think Gohan's dad is a little creepy?" Erasa whispered to Sharpener, glancing quickly over to the man in the corner, before squeezing Sharpener's arm even more than before.

Sharpener did in fact think there was something wrong with Gohan's real dad, who they hadn't met until today. It was beyond creepy, the way he kept staring at Gohan's mum and step dad, and the cold glare in his eyes made him look crazy. Not only that, he was unshaven too, and without a tie, and he had bags under his eyes like he hadn't slept for weeks.

"Maybe he's on drugs," Sharpener whispered back, "no wonder Gohan's mum left him. Don't worry though, babe, I'll protect you."

* * *

A young woman stood outside the gates of Capsule Corporation, keeping a close eye on her watch. According to her mother's account- a story she had heard many times over- it was almost time. She would have to be on guard.

She sighed, peering up at the yellow dome that loomed above her. She had so many fond memories of this place, but she also had some bad ones, too. She shook her head in despair… if only things had happened differently.

That was why she was here.

* * *

Chi Chi had had enough.

Her former husband had been glaring at her current husband all day long, and in response to this, her current husband had been whispering, 'oh no, oh no, he's going to kill me,' over and over again. She was sick of it. It was the day of her son's graduation, it should have been a happy day, and instead the stupidity of men was making it hard for her to enjoy her son's achievement.

If there was one thing she knew, she could still control Son Goku.

"You!" She said, poking the Saiyan in the chest, making his eyes bug out. "How dare you! You've been looking like you want to murder someone, all day! This is Gohan's graduation! What has gotten into you?"

A look of shock, then terror flashed across his face, and Chi Chi lifted her chin, knowing that she had won. Now he would apologise, and _finally_, everyone would be able to enjoy the party.

With despair, Chi Chi realised that the silence she was receiving from Goku was dragging on for too long. This had never happened before, but then again, she had been married to him, the last time she yelled like this.

What shocked her the most, though, was when his face changed again, a look of absolute fury making its way onto his handsome features.

"How dare I? HOW DARE I?" he bellowed, making Chi Chi jump back with fright. "I _fucking_ dare," he continued, "because my _wife_ went off like a slut, and screwed some other guy, and said she wasn't married to me anymore! I dare, because I'm living in a bloody cave, and don't even have anyone to tie my freakin' ties up! I _dare_, because I'm sick of you yelling at me, Chi Chi! I put up with it while I was married to you, but _apparently_ I'm not anymore, so watch out, bitch!"

Chi Chi blinked, her mouth left gaping, as was everyone else's in the room. No one had ever heard Goku talk that way before.

"You know what?" Goku continued, "Sometimes, when I look at _him_, I think 'maybe I should just listen to that voice, maybe just once.' I am a Saiyan, after all… I suppose I should be loyal to the Crown's orders!"

Vegeta frowned, shocked by what he was hearing. _What is wrong with Kakarot?_ he thought, _What the hell does he mean, loyal to the Crown? I didn't give any orders!_

"Goku… I don't understand what you're saying," Chi Chi trembled. As a couple, they'd had their fair share of fights before, but right now he seemed down right dangerous. Something was seriously wrong with him.

Goku's eyes flicked up towards Tom, his lips curling back in a grimace. He fought with himself, between the desires he had in his dreams- the desires to wring Tom's skinny little neck- and what he knew was right.

_I can't hurt him!_ he thought, and shook his head violently, willing all those evil things to disappear from his mind. Slowly, he gained control of himself, although he was sweating bullets, and gasping for breath.

He stepped back, making his way over to the balcony. He caught the hurt stares of both of his sons, and stopped momentarily.

"I'm sorry," he said hoarsely, meeting Gohan's gaze, "I have to go now."

Then he flew off into the air, leaving everyone in a state of shock.

* * *

_Ahh, there he is, right on schedule_, the young woman thought, stepping out of the shade cast by the large gate. She waited until he was out of sight, before she took off herself, tracking him at a safe distance by sensing for his ki.

She kept her own ki as low as possible, but didn't worry too much about it- he would be so upset at this moment, that she was sure he wouldn't sense hers.

It was half an hour before she felt him slow, his ki lowering, until he came to an eventual stop. She slowed down herself, being mindful now to keep her own ki down to a minimum.

She could see him now, the distinct hairstyle- that she knew only from photos- stood out in any crowd, let alone in the empty park. It really was a sad sight; the world's greatest hero, reduced to a crumbling shell, full of self-doubt, his head cradled in his hands as he rocked back and forth.

She landed, walking silently along the concrete paths, closer and closer to the man who could change everything. If she could help him now, she knew everything would be all right.

"Hey," she said softly, noticing as she did that her voice sounded just like her mother's, "Are you all right?"

Evidently, he noticed the similarity in her voice too. He looked up, shock written all over his face, as he peered at her through tears.

_Gosh, he really is a mess_, she thought, looking at his clothes in a state of disrepair, his face unshaven, and wet with tears.

"Bulma?" he asked, although he sounded confused.

_Obviously he's confused_, she thought, _I look way hotter than mum does, right at this point in time. She's what, about forty now?_

"No, silly," she giggled at the man, noting that despite it all, he was still extremely handsome. "Here," she said, lending him a clean tissue, "do you want to talk about it?"

"Who are you?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowed in worry.

She sat down, smiling gently at him, while using the tissue to blot away his tears.

"Well, don't laugh," she said quietly, "I have a bit of a strange name." She paused, waiting for him to nod before carrying on.

"My name is Bra. Bra Briefs."

* * *

**A/N:** I just want to point out, that since all this stuff has happened to Goku (Chi Chi's remarriage, etc etc…) GT can't possibly happen (or at least like it did on the show, because previous events alter what's in the future).

Also, I know Goku was a bit mean to Chi Chi in this chapter, but he really was at the end of his tether… I'd be pretty grumpy after being bombarded with crazy nightmares and not getting enough sleep etc. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate it. :)


	7. An Explanation

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z.**

An Explanation

"Bra _Briefs_?" Goku asked disbelievingly. Of course, he could see the resemblance to the Briefs easily- anyone could- but who was she? Bulma had never spoken about her before.

"Mmm," the woman hummed in reply, "Yes, Briefs… the name comes from my mother's side, of course." She giggled again, flashing him a bright smile. "You haven't got a clue who I am, have you?" she asked.

"Bulma's long lost cousin?" Goku replied, one eyebrow rising in question.

"No… Bulma's daughter. I'm from the future."

Goku froze, his mouth flapping open and closed in shock. "The future?" he whispered, his eyes widening, "Bulma's _daughter_?"

"Mmm hmm, and Vegeta's daughter, too. You can't forget Daddy."

"You're Vegeta's!" he exclaimed, scooting back in his seat, and looking her up and down. Of course, now that he thought about it he knew a child of Bulma would be Vegeta's, but to see this woman here… she looked nothing like the Prince.

She giggled again, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ears. "I don't really look like him, do I?" she asked, smiling as she watched Goku's eyes examine her with surprise. "Well, remember you can't judge a book by its cover… I may look like my mother, but I am half Saiyan."

Goku nodded, frowning as he tried to picture the dainty female in the midst of battle, fighting like Vegeta. The image didn't really seem to work, she looked too much like Bulma, and _she_ would never do any more than yell at someone.

"Can… can you fight?" he asked, scratching his head.

Bra frowned, her mouth turning down at the question. Goku gasped in surprise, as her expression suddenly mimicked Vegeta's usual scowl perfectly.

"Of course I can fight!" She replied, crossing her arms with a huff. Sighing, she looked back at the Saiyan beside her. "Okay, I admit, when I was younger all I cared about was clothes and boys, but that changed when… well, I decided I needed to learn how to fight. To… protect myself."

Goku frowned again; he hadn't missed the fact that she had stopped herself from saying something. "Why are you here?" he asked, his voice suddenly serious.

She looked up at the clouds, trying to work out how best to explain the situation. With a small shrug, she looked back into the black pools of Goku's eyes. "I'm here for you," she replied quietly, "to… to keep you here, on Earth."

"What do you mean?" Goku asked, frowning even more, "I don't understand… keep me here on Earth? Am I going to die again?"

"No," she replied, looking at her watch. "No, you don't die. I can't tell you, not yet. I'm sorry… just… think of me as your guardian angel, okay? I'm going to stick around for a while, and trust me, that will be enough to make everything right."

"Am I going to hurt someone?" Goku asked, becoming increasingly worried by her cryptic messages.

"No! No, you won't hurt anyone. I can tell you more tonight, okay?" she said reassuringly, giving his arm a soft squeeze. "I'll explain more tonight, it'll be safe by then, I think. For now, let's just talk, or eat. You must be hungry, I sure am!"

"Well, all right," Goku replied with a shrug, "food sounds good."

* * *

"Vegeta," Bulma whispered, clutching her husband on the arm, "what Goku said, about orders... what did he mean?"

Vegeta stared out the window, ignoring the fuss around them, as people crowded round Chi Chi, who had fainted on the floor.

"Just stay back!" Gohan yelled, picking his mother up off the floor, "Just stay back and give her some air!" He shook his head, and carried the woman down one of Capsule Corp's halls to a spare bedroom. "Damn Dad," he swore as he lay her down, "what's wrong with him?"

"What's wrong with him?" Bulma asked, receiving no reply to her earlier questions from Vegeta. "Vegeta, please, talk to me. Do you know what is wrong with Goku?"

"No," he answered, "I can't know for sure. But what he spoke of... could it be possible, that he has remembered his programming?"

Bulma gasped, her eyes widening. "No... You don't mean all that stuff from planet Vegeta... that brainwashing you said they did to the low-classes?" At Vegeta's look of affirmation, Bulma paled considerably. "Oh no. Oh no." She bit her lip, looking into the sky where the Saiyan had flown off. "What do you think this will do to him? Do you think he could be... dangerous?" she asked her husband, her worried gaze staring into his face.

"Bulma," he replied, "Kakarot is a Saiyan. He has always been dangerous. You've just been on his good side." Vegeta looked down at his wife, giving her a reassuring pat on the behind. "Just don't do anything to get on his bad side, now."

* * *

"So... is Bulma pregnant?" Goku asked, ignoring the stab of anger and hurt that came with thinking about pregnant Chi Chi.

"Hmm? Oh, no," Bra replied, grasping what Goku meant by the question, "No, I won't be born for a few years yet, so you can't tell anyone about me, okay? This'll be our little secret." She winked at him, and licked again at her ice cream cone, giving Goku a strange sense of deja vu. He had taken a stroll through a park like this with Bulma, some years before, and the genius woman had done exactly what her daughter did just now. The effect was unnerving.

"I really wish you could tell me what was going on," he said, looking at the young woman, before biting off the last of his own cone.

"Later, okay?" she said, and took his arm. "First, I think you should use that instant transmission of your to take me to wherever you've been staying, all right?"

Goku shrugged, accepting that he wasn't going to get any more answers any time soon. Placing two fingers to his forehead, he searched for his camp, and used his Instant Transmission to take both himself, and the time traveller back to his make-shift home.

"Oh… I forgot," Goku mumbled, frowning and crossing his arms as he looked at the devastation surrounding him.

"This is where you've been staying?" Bra questioned, looking at the rubble before her, "you've been living on a pile of rocks?"

"No," Goku replied, shaking his head, "it was a cave. I kinda… accidentally knocked it down this morning."

"Huh," the beauty replied, her tone disbelieving, "that's a pretty big accident."

Goku frowned, pouting. His day seemed to be going from bad to worse, now he was practically going to have to baby sit Bulma's daughter. The woman was probably as pretentious as her mother; no doubt she would soon start complaining about the lack of facilities. Really, all he wanted was to be left alone.

"Can you tell me what this is all about now?" he asked, his tone more serious than usual.

Bra looked down at her watch, frowning. "No…" she replied after a pause, "it's still too close. I don't want anything to go wrong. You just have to be patient, Goku, you'll find out soon enough."

They fell into silence, both looking at the ruins of the cave before them. "Okay," Bra finally said, lifting up a huge boulder, and ignoring the surprised look from Goku. "I can see some of your stuff under here, so let's get it out."

Goku watched for a moment, shocked by the fact that the petit woman didn't seem to have any problem with getting herself covered in dirt.

"I've been in worse situations than this," she said as he continued to stare, "I used to worry about getting grubby, but that… well that changed. Can you help me, Goku?"

"Uh, sure," he replied, digging into the rubble. Forgetting everything but the physical job at hand, he began to feel a lot better about the day.

"How old are you anyway?" he asked, looking at the woman as she threw another boulder effortlessly over her head.

"Twenty-three," she replied. She opened her mouth to say something else, than closed it again, shaking her head.

"What?" Goku asked, suddenly curious.

"Well… I suppose I can tell you some stuff about me now," she replied softly. Turning away from him, she fished out the bear skin, busily shaking the dust off it. "My parents died when I was sixteen," she said quietly. "I miss them," she added softly.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Goku said, frowning. For Vegeta to be killed there would have to be something extremely powerful, or… "What killed them?" Goku asked.

"A monster," she whispered in reply, and refused to say any more.

* * *

"So," Goku said, looking at the woman sitting on the other side of the fire. She was munching on a piece of fish, thoughtfully staring at her outstretched legs. "Can you tell me now, why you're here?"

"Huh?" she asked, her blue eyes widening as she looked up. "I'm sorry, what did you say? I zoned out."

"Can you tell me now?" Goku repeated again, his voice hinting at the irritation he felt. Bra merely stared back at him, her eyes glowing in the firelight.

"All right," she said with a sigh, standing up and brushing her greasy fingers on her pants, "but let's go for a walk. I always feel better talking about serious stuff when I'm doing something active."

Goku nodded, standing up and blowing the fire out with a quick blast of air. He followed after her, into the dark forest, where the eerie noises of the night were the loudest.

"I've already changed the timeline," Bra stated, picking absently at a branch that brushed too close to her face, "because right now, you're not even meant to be here."

"What?" Goku asked, turning abruptly so that he could look into her face. In the darkness, though, he couldn't tell whether she was looking grave, or happy.

"The trouble started at that party. And my mother told me, not long before she died, that you said some funny comments back then… or today. Something about orders?"

Goku froze, his breath catching in his throat. _She thinks I'm crazy_, he thought, _maybe I am crazy?_

"Normally retrospective amnesia doesn't fix itself, but then again, you're a Saiyan. I think our brains are different to begin with," she continued, "So when you hit your head as a child, you forgot all of the programming they put into your head, back on planet Vegeta. But Gohan dealt you a hard blow, a few weeks ago, right? And now you're remembering things… things from when you were… more like my father."

Goku swallowed audibly, shaking his head. "I don't want to…" he began, trailing off because he didn't know what else to add.

"I know," she said, placing a soft hand on his arm, "You are a good man, Son Goku. Even with these extra memories, you don't have to do anything different. I talked to my father about it too, you see, all that time ago. He said you would have been okay, had you just accepted it and continued on as normal. My dad's the Prince, right? You have to follow his orders, even if that programming makes you want to do… things. He will order you not to hurt any humans, I know he will. And since I'm his daughter," she added, giggling a little, "that makes me a Princess, and you have to listen to me. And I'm telling you now, you won't hurt anyone. Ever."

Goku sighed with relief, running his hands slowly down his face. "So you don't think I'm going crazy?" he asked quietly, apprehensively awaiting her answer.

"No," she replied, pulling his arm so he fell back into step beside her. "You're not crazy, Goku. You're just remembering things. And trust me, we all have memories we'd rather forget."

"I hear you," he mumbled, kicking at the leaves beneath their feet. "But you said I'm not meant to be here. So where am I meant to be?"

"I don't know," Bra replied honestly, "no one does. Not even the Kais know where you went after the party. You just used Instant Transmission and… disappeared. My parents didn't realise you had left the planet until about five in the afternoon, and by then Dad couldn't sense your ki anywhere. Then King Kai spoke to them and said he'd lost track of you too. The Kais searched for quite a while, but the universe is a big place… and you weren't in Otherworld either."

"I disappeared?" he echoed, frowning in disbelief. "Why?"

"You were upset," she answered, looking up at the black shadow that formed the mass of his hair, "When I found you this afternoon, you weren't doing too good. But you seem better now, and I've already stopped you from leaving. Just promise me you won't go anywhere, okay? I think… I think that if you stay, you can save the planet from what killed my parents."

"Okay," he replied, grinning now that everything seemed to be all right. "I promise. I won't leave this planet unless it's an emergency."

"If you have to leave, I want you to take me with you, okay?" she said, her tone more forceful than before. It was essential to her that he didn't go to far out into space; she still couldn't risk him getting away from her.

"Wait, you're staying?" Goku asked, "You're not going to go back to the future?"

"I can't," Bra replied, taking her turn to kick at the leaves, "there isn't a future to go back too. Everyone on Earth was destroyed, and Namek too. I almost got killed just going back to my old home to get the time machine; I'm lucky my mother stashed the machine away in a special vault, so that it wasn't destroyed when I got there."

"Everyone's dead?"

"Yes," she answered gravely. "I'm the only one from my time left. My family, my friends, they're all gone."

"I'm so sorry," Goku said, placing a hand gently on her back. "I truly am."

"It's no one's fault," she said, stopping as they came to a new clearing. "I think this looks like a good spot, let's get that capsule house of yours set up."

Goku nodded, and pulled the capsule from inside his shirt. Within moments, a small dome house was standing where grass had been before.

The older Saiyan sighed as he watched Bra walk into the building. He didn't know what to think anymore; it was as if his entire world had been turned upside down.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry this took so long; I've been really busy with university and haven't had much time to write. I'm hoping to churn out another chapter for this fairly quickly though. More revelations about Bra's past (and why she's so worried about Goku) will be revealed next chapter.


	8. Little Gestures

**A/N:** I hadn't looked at this story in a _long_ time, but when I did I felt inspired to write this again. In fact, I'm feeling more inspired to work on all my multi-chapter stories now (yay!) Goodbye writer's block! One good thing about me taking a break from writing this story is that I feel my writing style had improved.

I know the eventual pairing may not be everyone's cup of tea, but give the story a go if you can :) I myself love both canon pairings and the odd ones too, and you may just be surprised! And because this is a story that involves a time traveller, the age differences between certain characters aren't too big.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z.**

* * *

Little Gestures

Bra untied her hair, watching discretely as Goku placed what little belongings he had down on the floor. She ran a hand through her long blue locks with a sigh, noting once again the split ends. It had been almost two years since she last cut her hair, and shuddered at the memory of how much trouble that single haircut had almost cost her.

She hadn't missed the looks Goku had been giving her all day. He had clearly expected her to be some prissy princess- which, to give him some credit, is how she basically was until her sixteenth year- and not someone who was willing to get a little grubby. She shook her head, a faint smile on her face. He had no idea how rough she had been living…

Taking a deep breath, she caught Goku's eyes, and gave him a kind smile. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, and although she had to admit that the short beard he had grown looked attractive in a rough way, she knew he'd look a little tidier if he had a clean shave.

"Why don't you go ahead and shower first?" she said, motioning to the bathroom. "I'll make up the beds."

Goku paused, not sure how to frame what he was thinking. "You don't have to…" he began.

"I want to," she insisted. "Seriously, Goku," she added, crossing her arms and making the resemblance to Bulma seem even more uncanny, "you've had a rough day; hell, you've had a rough year! Take a load off for once, and just go shower and shave and do whatever else it is that you men do," she continued, waving an arm at the bathroom again, "and I'll get the beds in here made up and put a pot of tea on- you drink tea, don't you?"

"Uh, yeah..."

"Good. Go on then," she waved. When he hesitated, he hands moved back to her hips. "Do I have to carry you into the bathroom? 'Cause I will, y'know. Half-Saiyan, remember," she added, pointing to herself.

At this Goku finally cracked a smile, and Bra watched as he headed into the bathroom, shaking his head along the way. She could hear him chuckling under his breath, and she sighed as the bathroom door closed. Truth be told, she needed some time to herself so she could think.

Her eyes moved back to the small pile of things Goku had brought with him from the cave. She knew he had far more belongings at Mount Paozu- she and Pan had spent many childhood days snooping around the old abandoned house, looking through old photo albums, rustling through wardrobes, playing dress-up with the clothes left there. Hell, she'd even found old video cassettes of home movies, taken them home and built her own old-school VCR so that the two girls could secretly watch them.

She vividly remembered the first time they'd watched one of the home movies with Goku in it. The man had looked young- _really _young- and was holding a new-born Gohan, singing tunelessly to the baby. Pan cried the whole way through the movie.

Bra shook her head, bringing herself out of her reverie. She knew it was too soon to be suggesting that he returned to Mount Paozu, but she hoped Goku would someday. The entire region there was beautiful, and had always seemed enchanted to her.

Getting fresh sheets out of the cupboard, she wondered what Goku would say if he knew she'd spent so much time sneaking through his old house. As children it had never occurred to either of the girls that they had been invading someone's privacy, but that's exactly what they had done.

She certainly wouldn't like it if someone went through all her private things.

Halfway through making up the bed in the first bedroom, Bra suddenly sat down, her eyes shining with unshed tears as a fresh wave of grief flowed over her. She took a moment to compose herself, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, but it didn't work.

_Oh Kami, they look so alike_, she thought, unconsciously clutching at the wedding band she wore hidden on a chain around her neck. A single tear ran down her cheek as she dared to whisper the name of the man who had given it to her.

"Goten."

* * *

When Goku walked out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his hips, the first thing he noticed was the smell of tea wafting from a teapot Bra had set on the table. She had already poured herself a cup, and was staring quietly into the murky liquid. Goku felt his heart constrict for a moment at the look in her eyes; the blue pools were filled with a sadness that struck a chord within him.

As he walked towards the table she looked up suddenly, and he realised that he had startled her. He started to apologise, but she waved him off.

"It's my own fault," she said softly, her smile still looking rather sad. "I zone out all the time. Daddy used to always tell me off about it, saying that I'm never aware enough of my surroundings. I've gotten better over the years, but…" she trailed off with a shrug. Taking a sip, she glanced at him over the rim of her cup, and he felt like he was looking at her properly for the first time, seeing _Bra_ Briefs rather than a clone of Bulma.

For some reason that made him feel nervous.

She set down her cup, watching him as he poured his own tea. "I suppose I can actually relax now," she continued as he began to drink his, and their eyes met again. "It's not like I'm going to be in any danger now that I have a Super Saiyan Three as a flatmate." She smiled at him again, but there was still sadness in her eyes. "I'm sure you'd save a damsel in distress like 'lil old me."

"I thought you said you could fight," Goku blurted out, realising too late that the comment sounded rude. To his relief, she just laughed.

"I can, but I'm no way near your level," she replied. "I only… I only transformed about a year ago," she added, sighing into her cup again.

"You're a Super Saiyan?" he asked, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice. He felt a twinge of guilt, knowing that this was obviously a difficult subject for her, but he couldn't stop the sudden wave of curiosity. He couldn't even picture the petite woman, who looked so much like his childhood friend, in a serious battle, let alone as a Super Saiyan.

"Yeah." He thought she wasn't going to say anymore, but then she added, "Someone very close to me died, and it just hit me. It was like…"

"Like your heart was going to explode; like your body was on fire, but you just didn't care anymore," he finished quietly.

"Exactly," she replied, meeting his eyes with perfect understanding, and giving him that same, sad smile.

Goku smiled back at her, and realised that they probably had matching expressions right now. Before he could stop himself, he asked, "Are you okay?" despite the fact that he hated being asked that himself.

"No," she replied with a bitter chuckle. "But life goes on. It will for both of us. Cookie?"

He reached into the jar she was holding out for him, taking a handful of the biscuits. She did the same, surprising him by shoving the whole lot in her mouth. "Saiyammm," she reminded him, still chewing. "Mighd ruk like Mom, bud stiw Saiyam," she added, making him grin a little more.

Together they emptied the cookie jar.

* * *

Bra couldn't sleep.

She told herself it was because she was monitoring Goku's ki; he had, after all, told her that the Saiyan visions that he kept having were strongest when he slept. But the man's ki was peaceful tonight, and she doubted that he would be bothered by the visions after such a tiring day.

She sighed, thinking about the man who lay asleep in the bedroom next door. He had taken all that she had told him- and all that she had refrained from telling him- remarkably well. She put it down to his good nature that her mother had always talked about; she'd always said that the only thing he didn't take in his stride was Chi Chi's marriage to Tom.

Knowing the full history of Goku's marriage to Chi Chi, she found it surprising that Goku cared so much. _He obviously must have fallen in love with her after they were married,_ she thought, thinking about the circumstances in which the relationship had occurred. _Auntie Chi Chi always said that they had been dating since they were kids, but Mom said that if that was the case, Goku never knew about it. He didn't even know what marriage was until they tied the knot at that tournament._

Bra rolled onto her side, sighing as she stared out the window at the stars. She closed her eyes, willing herself to sleep, but instead the memory of her own marriage proposal came to mind.

_She was lying flat on her back on the uncomfortable futon, her chest heaving as she tried to calm her breathing down. They were both sticky with sweat and sex, and she could tell that her cheeks were flushed, the heat practically radiating off her. It didn't help that the ship's air conditioning was on the blink again. She'd have to get around to fixing it properly, one of these days._

"_I suppose I should marry you."_

_She turned her head- more like lolled it to the side, she was that tired- to look at Goten. "Wh… what?" she asked breathlessly. "You're joking, right?"_

_Goten rolled his head to the side, meeting her gaze with his single eye. She looked carefully at him, eyeing the deep hollow scar that sat where his right eye once was, marring the once-handsome face. He was giving her that 'isn't it obvious?' look, both his eyebrows raised as if to say that she should have been expecting this topic to come up._

_She waited for him to speak, and in the meantime busied herself with watching his half-deflated member move in time with his pulse. It always weirded her out when it did that…_

"_I promised your dad that I'd take care of you," he began, and she flashed him an icy glare. He knew that topic was off-limits._

_He laughed at her expression, a genuine smile lighting up his features. She frowned, trying to remember the last time he had laughed like that. She couldn't actually think of anything since the end of her world… all the happy times in her life had only come __**before**__._

"_I don't see what's so funny," she told him with a scowl._

"_You." He replied. Sobering up, he rolled so that his entire body was facing her, propping himself up on one elbow. "Look," he began, "things have been really fucked up, and it's neither of our fault. But it's just me and you now, and that's the way it's gonna be for the rest of our lives, so we might as well make the most of what we've got."_

"_What we've got is nothing," she replied angrily, and stood swaying at the edge of the futon after getting up too quickly. She pulled her clothes back on, not caring that she smelled like sex. "You were my brother's friend. The world turned to shit and everyone died. We escaped. We were angry, and we still are. We scream at each other. We occasionally have sex." She shrugged, turning around as she clipped her bra back into place. "Things aren't fucked up, Goten. __**We **__are."_

_They glared at each other. "I feel dirty," Goten bit out, and she knew he wasn't being literal._

"_Yeah, well that's what happens when you sleep with your best friend's little sister. Especially when you first start when she's only sixteen."_

"_Hey!" he growled, sitting up. "That was uncalled for. You wanted it as much as I did that night. You wanted an escape from this fucking pile of shit that we call life, and that's what you did to get it. You used me."_

"_And you used me," she replied, "and three years later here we are still using each other. How can you say that we should get married, Goten? Marriage should be sacred. Marriage should be between people who love each other."_

"_I do love you!" he yelled at her, making her blood boil._

"_And I love you too!" she screamed back, throwing the nearest object she could find at his head. "But it's not a healthy love, Goten! It's not marriage-type love! It's sick and twisted, and I hate feeling this way! You were my big bro Goten! You were the guy who chased away the boys who hit on me! You were __**family**__, Goten! You weren't the man I __**ever**__ intended to be with!"_

"_And you weren't the woman!" he yelled back, standing up and stalking towards her. At six-foot-three he towered over her tiny five-foot frame, suddenly looking very menacing. "Believe me, I wouldn't have you if I had a choice, but there is no one else left!" he cried, grabbing onto her shoulders and shaking her. "We are the only ones left like us in the entire universe! It's either me or nothing for you, Bra! Can't you see that?"_

_She bit down hard on her bottom lip, trying hard to hold the tears at bay. She could see; she could see it very clearly. They were on the run from that __**monster**__, they were living hand to mouth and barely surviving, they were the only Earthlings left. They had no friends in the universe, only enemies. They could trust no one but each other._

_It still didn't mean that they should get married._

"_Why?" she asked quietly, as the first tear finally broke free._

"_Why what?" he asked her, and stepped away, letting go of her arms. She wondered briefly if she would bruise._

"_Why get married?"_

_Goten had tears forming in his eye, too. "Because it's the right thing to do," he told her, his voice croaking. "Because I wasn't brought up to act like this," he motioned, waving at the air between them. "Because I promised Vegeta…"_

"_Leave that out of this!" she snapped, rubbing furiously at her eyes. "I told you not to talk about that! Why do you always have to hurt me by bringing that up?"_

"_Because I did!" he yelled again, his mood switching back to pure fury. "Because I promised Vegeta that I would take care of you, Bra, and Kami damnit I'm going to! Marry me so I can take care of you! Marry me so I can stop fucking you and start fucking my wife instead! At least then it won't be so fucked up!"_

"_Fine!" she screamed, jumping up the hatch of the old Capsule Corp spaceship. "Fine, have it your way! Buy a fucking set of rings, and we can be __**married**__," she sneered down at him as he climbed up the hatch ladder._

"_Good," he bit out._

"_Good," she replied with an air of finality._

Bra shivered, noticing suddenly that her pillow was wet with tears. She sniffled, drying her face on the edge of the sheet, and flipped her pillow over, before rolling onto her back.

"Oh Kami, Goten, I'm so sorry," she whispered, clutching once again at the wedding band that hung around her neck. It was a familiar gesture now; one that had built up over the past year until it had become habit.

Despite all the problems they had, Goten had always taken care of her. Their marriage hadn't been a happy one, but she was wise enough now to see that it _was_ the circumstances that made it that way, and not the people.

She sobbed as she thought of all the things that she should have told him. She never once thanked him for all that he did for her. She never told him that she had lied that day when she said she would have never considered him, _before_. He never knew that she'd secretly burned for him since she was thirteen, despite the fact that he was twice her age and had been in a long-term engagement to Paris at the time.

She shook her head. The death of all their friends and family- including Goten's fiancé- had poisoned the relationship between her and the older man. What was once wholly good had been twisted into something it should never have been due to the desperate nature of their lives, and they'd never quite worked out how to get along after that.

Still, they had been there for each other, which was more than what she had at the moment, in this new timeline.

_Why do people on their deathbed make others promise stupid things?_ she wondered, pulling the blankets higher up around her. Her father had made Goten promise to take care of her, and years later Goten had made her promise to go into the past, to change the future of another timeline.

"_Stay in that timeline," he whispered, his eye beginning to glaze over._

"_No, Goten!" she whispered furiously. "No! You stay with me, okay! Stay with me!"_

"_Go," he croaked, clutching desperately at her hand. "Go. Change the future. Stay with them."_

"_If I stay I will end up in their afterlife, and not…" she choked on her own sob. "I won't ever see Mama and Daddy again!"_

"_You won't see me," he whispered, his eye looking lucid once more as he stared at her._

"_I will! I will because you're not going to die!"_

_He looked at her with such pity at that moment. "I'm sorry Bra," he murmured, his eye finally closing, "but I am. You have to go. You deserve a better life than this. We all deserve a better life than what we've had. Please," he continued, and she could feel his ki dipping dangerously low, flickering like a candle flame in the wind. "Please Bra. I wanted children; I wanted peace. Give all of us that in another timeline. Find a man who loves you right."_

"_You do love me right! I love you Goten!" she yelled desperately, feeling his dropping even further. "Tell me you love me! Goten!"_

"_Pro…mise" he barely whispered._

_She sobbed, squeezing his hand. "I promise," she whispered, and heard him sigh._

_And then his ki was gone, and all she could hear was a maniacal laugh in the background. She looked back up to the face of the creature; the face that once looked so similar to the that of the man who lay dead in her arms, and she screamed, sick of all the pain and suffering._

"_Fuck you Baby!" she heard her own voice scream, and she realised that she no longer cared if she lived or died._

Bra finally fell asleep knowing everything she ever loved had been left behind in her broken world, the laughter of a possessed man still ringing in her ears.

* * *

When Goku first woke in the morning, it took him a moment to realise where he was. He sighed, closing his eyes again and enjoying the feel of the sun shining through onto his bare torso. Stretching his arms above his head until his knuckles brushed the wall behind his head, he curled and uncurled his toes, enjoying the feeling of actually being refreshed after a night's sleep. For once he hadn't been plagued by nightmares, and the soft bed felt a lot better than sleeping in a cave.

He had refrained from using the capsule house Bulma had given him, not liking the idea of living in a house alone. Living rough, with the animals all around him, had taken him back to his childhood years and given him at least some sense of peace, but he was beginning to realise that it was foolish of him not to make use of what his friends had offered. After all, he was a Super Saiyan. It was embarrassing to think that he had been almost scared to sleep in a little capsule building!

He heard rustling noises coming from the main room of the small house, and the soft voice of a woman cursing under her breath. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, Goku sat up, looking out the window for the position of the sun in the sky.

It was still fairly early from what he could tell, and he wondered why the young woman from the future was up already. After all, her mother always liked to sleep in.

_But she's Vegeta's daughter, too._

He shook his head, still finding it hard to comprehend all that had happened in the last 24 hours. He grimaced, thinking about the way he had yelled at Chi Chi in front of everyone. He felt so ashamed about it, and was certain that everyone would be mad at him. He'd acted completely out of line.

_Gohan will be so upset_, he thought. _I ruined my own son's graduation party._

But he still couldn't help the anger that welled up inside him when he thought of the way Tom had been touching Chi Chi, and the disgust as he thought of the fact that she was pregnant with Tom's child instead of his own. He knew it was wrong, but he couldn't help the sudden fury that overcame him, his hands balling into fists as he thought of Chi Chi's face flushed with pleasure a she lay under another man. It wasn't fucking right.

A knock at the bedroom door brought him back to reality, just as Bra said "Goku?" with a fair share of concern in her voice.

"Uh, yeah?" he replied, quickly standing up. The door opened, to reveal the concerned face of the blue haired beauty. He watched as her eyes travelled down his body, widening in surprise as a faint blush tinted her cheeks.

Goku looked down to where she was looking and blushed himself, scratching his head with a laugh in his old nervous habit. "Ha… sorry!" he said, laughing off his nakedness and turning to find some clothes. He began to panic when he realised that he had left his capsule full of donated clothes in the lounge, and began snatch up the sheet of the bed when Bra spoke again.

"Check the drawers beside the bed."

He turned his head and saw that she wasn't looking at him, but instead seemed to be staring at the ceiling. "Thanks," he mumbled as he opened the top drawer, his back still facing her, to find that it was indeed stocked with underwear. Pulling on the first pair of boxers he could find, he turned back to her. He wasn't usually embarrassed about nudity; hell, he quite enjoyed wandering around naked, if he thought about it. But there was something about Bra that made him feel like he needed to cover up in front of her; he guessed it was the fact that she was Bulma and Vegeta's daughter. Hell, she was only five years older than his own son.

"How did you know?" he asked suddenly, and she finally looked back at him. For some reason, the small smile that played on her lips made his stomach do a little flip.

"Mom gave this house to you, right? So I figured she would have stocked it full of clothes for you. She even stocked the wardrobe in the other room full of new clothes for women… I guess she figured it was best to be safe."

"Safe about what?"

There was that smile again, a knowing look in her eyes. "Oh, you know," she replied nonchalantly, "in case you had any ladies over, I supposed." She giggled, and he knew he was blushing then. "Anyways," she added, laughter still in her voice, "I thought I'd make use of them; I didn't have a chance to pack many clothes before I got here. I hope you don't mind."

"No…. no I don't mind," he replied quickly, finally noticing what she was wearing. He felt his stomach do that flip thing again as he looked her over, noticing the way her body managed to be both athletic and curvaceous in the black sports bra and leggings that she was wearing. The skin of her bare midriff was milky white, and he noted with appreciation that he could see the hint of abdominal muscles under the smooth skin of her stomach.

He must have been staring at her for too long, because she suddenly said, as if trying to explain her choice of clothing, "I don't know why Mom would leave yoga gear for a chick who wanted to stay over, but I'm not complaining. I don't want to spar in jeans, after all."

_That_ caught his attention. "Spar?"

"Well yeah, Goku. I mean, what else are two Super Saiyans going to do all day?" she asked, one eyebrow raised. She was smirking at him now, the same kind that Vegeta got before a good fight, and he felt an answering smile pull at his own lips.

Bra watched as Goku turned back to the drawers, pulling them out one by one until he found a suitable t shirt and shorts to train in. She wondered suddenly about where he could get more of his trademark gi that she was so used to seeing in photos, and thought that perhaps she would try and get some made for him. After all, the man needed cheering up, and her mother had always taught her that it was the kind little gestures that people do for one another that count the most in life.

She realised it was wrong to just stand in the doorway ogling the man, but she couldn't help watching the way his muscles rippled as his arms lifted above his head, pulling a t shirt over himself. His shave the night before, coupled with a decent sleep, had done wonders for him, and he looked less exhausted than he had the day before. She made sure to straighten her features before he turned around, hoping that he hadn't noticed the way that she'd been looking at him.

He was- in a way- her father-in-law, after all. That just made it _wrong_ on so many levels.

She stepped away from the doorway and headed back towards the table, trying desperately to ignore the image in her head of him standing before her in all his naked glory. She should have realised he would sleep naked; her mother always said he had been a bit of a nudist, but of course she just had to go and barge into his bedroom like that.

It didn't help that he looked damn sexy.

"Something wrong?"

She jerked, meeting his eyes suddenly as her hand went to her heart. His eyes seemed to smile at her then, and she realised he found her surprise funny.

"No!" she replied, feeling her cheeks flush. No, nothing was wrong. She was just going to ignore the guilt that she felt for feeling a slight attraction to him, and get on with the day.

_It's just the lack of sex_, she told herself, even as she thought of something to change the subject.

"I'm sorry I just walked right into your room like that this morning. It's just that your ki began to feel a little… off," she told him with a shrug, searching for an answer in his eyes.

She bit her lip as she realised she'd said the wrong thing. He was suddenly staring at his bare feet, as if there was suddenly something interesting on the floor, but she could see the mixture of guilt and… _shame? _she wondered, in his eyes.

"I just…" he began, but she suddenly realised that she didn't need an explanation, and put a hand on his arm to stop him. Of course he was still going to be feeling anger towards Chi Chi; how could she have been so stupid to forget what had happened in this timeline yesterday? It was the whole reason why she was here!

"It's okay," she told him, stepping just a little closer so that she could look him in the eye. She realised suddenly that he was taller than Goten had ever been, but quickly pushed that thought away. "I'm sorry I brought it up. Just forget about it; there's more important things to talk about than all that bullshit anyway," she added, letting go of his arm.

"I forgot that you could sense ki," he told her quietly, and she suddenly realised how near to him she was. She looked away, swallowing hard, and took a step back, moving quickly to pick up the small device that she had left sitting on the table.

"Speaking of ki," she said, avoiding eye contact. She didn't like the way she had suddenly reacted to the intense look in his eyes; it was almost as if she had been drowning in the black pools.

Goten had had brown eyes.

She shook her head in order to get a grip. "I've got this watch here," she said, opening her palm up to show him the black object she was holding. The strap was made of stretchy rubber, making it look like any old sports watch. "But it's not really used for telling the time. It's actually something I developed to hide someone's ki."

"You made that?" Goku asked, and she finally looked him in the eye. She was relieved when his previous expression was gone, replaced only by wonderment as he bent closer to look at the watch. "Wait," he added, "what do you mean about it hiding ki?"

"Well, the ki of whoever wears it is masked," she explained, a familiar feeling of pride at her genius invention flowing through her. "I made it a long time ago, and believe me, having this little thing saved my life at least a dozen times, but it got busted before I came here and that's why I was up so early this morning. I wanted to get it fixed so I can get on with my life."

"But…" Goku began, trailing off as realisation flitted across his face. Bra smiled, noticing the way he looked at the band more carefully than before, and lifted her hand out to him, allowing him to pick it up.

She watched as he examined it with an air of curiosity and distrust, a slight frown on his features. She suddenly remembered something that her mother had told her long ago…

"_Son kun often came off as being a bit dim-witted, but he was actually quite smart. He was just naïve, and he'd grown up so sheltered away from people that he didn't know how to act half the time, so the things he did often made his seem silly. But he was one of the smartest fighters around."_

"_Not as smart as Daddy!"_

"_Just as smart as Daddy. Son kun was an amazing fighter, and a great friend. I wish things had worked out differently…"_

"Huh?" she asked, realising he'd asked her a question.

"How does it work?"

She took the device back off him, slipping it easily over her wrist. "It creates an invisible shield around the wearer," she replied, carefully turning the ki shield on so that the digital screen lit up, but refraining from engaging the shield. "It's like one of those double-sided mirrors; you know the ones where one side looks like a mirror, but from the other side it's just a normal window, and you can see what's going on outside." When he nodded, she continued. "When I turn this on, I can still feel my own ki, as well as the ki of everyone else. But people won't be able to sense my ki. I'm going to switch it on in a sec; it's really important that you to tell me if it works or not."

"Because you can't let the others sense that you're here," he said with complete understanding.

"Exactly," she replied. Since arriving in the timeline, she had kept her ki to the absolute minimum, but for a second risked raising it a little higher. "You can sense me now?" she asked, her voice almost a whisper.

When he nodded she switched the ki shield on, and watched as Goku gasped, his eyes widening in shock.

"Shit…" he whispered, and she grinned broadly. His eyes met hers, shock still evident in the black depths. "I can't sense you at all!"

"It's cool, huh? Not something I would use in a fair fight, but when you're being chased across the universe it's kinda necessary. And until I'm born in this timeline, I'm gonna have to wear it."

He nodded in understanding, blinking at her like an owl. "It's just so weird," he whispered. "I forgot how much I'm used to sensing people until just now… now it's like you're dead." Suddenly he surprised her, reaching out and placing one calloused hand on her neck. She relaxed when she realised what he was doing, and could tell that he felt more relaxed after finding her pulse.

He withdrew his hand, and it took her a second to remember what it was that she was doing.

"Um… I have to test this all the way," she said, giving him a serious look. "You have to tell me if you sense me at all." At his signal, she began to raise her power level, tentatively taking it up notch by notch.

She could sense the discomfort in his own ki as she took it higher and higher, and objects in the room began to levitate. She couldn't blame him; all the Earth's fighters relied on their ability to sense ki, and without them they felt blind. It was the same for her, and she knew how odd Goku would be feeling at this moment, seeing all the signs of a raised power level, but being blind to it at the same time.

"Can you sense me?"

"No," he replied, almost scowling.

"You need to relax," she told him, as she felt his ki suddenly jump. "I can sense the worry in you, and the others will too. They'll think something's up."

His eyes met hers, and she gave him a reassuring nod. "I would never do anything to hurt you, Goku," she told him. "Besides, you are still far stronger than me." When his ki decreased, she took a deep breath. "I need to take this right up to my limit so that I can be sure that it works," she told him. "Are you going to be okay if I go Super?"

"Yeah," he answered curtly. It was all she needed to know.

She pushed her power forth, grunting and tensing her muscles in that tiny moment before the transformation occurred. Then the air whooshed around her, and all her senses increased tenfold. The table began to lift off the floor, and she realised that maybe she should have done this outside.

Goku watched the woman in front of him, unable to hide his surprise. He knew his jaw was hanging open, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't sense her ki- damn, he wished in that moment that he could- but he could tell that she was powerful. The golden glow around her calmed as she gained better control over her transformed state, and she suddenly looked up at him with teal eyes.

He didn't know how long he looked into them for, but he was sure that he could get lost in a gaze like that. Super Saiyans always oozed a sense of intense power, but there was something about her- and he realised that it was probably the fact that she was a woman- that made her seem almost bewitching. He stepped back, feeling his back pressing against the wall, and examined her from head to toe.

Her hair had already been tied back in a messy bun, but loose strands of gold whipped around her face. He could see more of Vegeta in her now; her eyebrows were turned down in that trademark frown that all Super Saiyans had, and her lips were pursed in thought. Looking closer, he realised that even her eyelashes had turned gold.

_Huh_, he though, _I never realised that happened._

The changes to her body were less dramatic, but still gave the implication of power. Her abs had become more defined; the six-pack that was once merely hinted at was now clearly visible. Although her muscle mass hadn't increased exponentially, her arms and legs, which were already toned, now looked more muscular.

She was definitely impressive.

When he looked back up at her face she was smirking again, and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Just checking," she said, raising one eyebrow, "but you can't actually sense me, right?"

He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head again as he checked. "Nope, can't sense you," he replied, shaking his head. She frowned, and he tensed suddenly as she appeared mere inches in front of him, locking both his arms against the wall.

"You forgot," she smirked, her voice sounding like too many things to his ears; husky, angry, arrogant, seductive. He began raising his own ki, pushing back against her hands that hid him pinned in place. She increased the pressure, and he smirked back down at the tiny woman, feeling the familiar thrum of anticipation running through his veins.

He transformed, and noted that her smirk only grew. Chuckling, he quickly turned the tables, kicking her small legs out from underneath her, while at the same time twisting the two of them around until she was the one pressed against the wall. "You're too small," he teased, and was rewarded by a snarl that almost drove him crazy with the need to fight her. He had her legs pinned flat against the wall by his own, his hands holding her arms above her head by the wrists. He could feel the ki shield under his right palm, and made a note to himself that he would have to be careful not to break it.

It seemed that she was thinking along similar lines, because she suddenly said, "If the shield breaks, I'm screwed."

He let go of her, stepping back warily while remaining on guard. He gestured in the direction of the front door with his head, saying "If we fight in here, we'll have no place to sleep." She smiled at that, visibly relaxing, and he let out a sigh.

"Truce until we find a place to spar?" she asked.

He grinned back, motioning towards the door. "Ladies first," he said, and watched as she passed him.

His grin grew wider. There was nothing he liked more than having a new opponent to fight with.

* * *

"Fuck you, Goku," Bra heaved under her breath, and was rewarded with a smirk from her opponent, who stood crouched in a perfect fighting stance, ready to attack again. They had been sparring for hours, and although the ki shield had given her a definite advantage to begin with, she was now growing tired, while Goku- although a little out of breath- appeared to have an endless supply of energy left.

Of course he had kept himself at the first level of Super Saiyan, which meant that he still had way more power up his sleeves. She grunted, turning her head to the side so she could spit on the ground. She could taste the iron in her mouth, and knew her lip was split.

_He'd better have a damn senzu bean_, she grumbled to herself, _or I'm going to be really sore tomorrow._

They'd agreed not to use ki blasts, both realising that the other fighters would be able to sense that something wasn't quite right if blasts were shot- they'd be able to tell that Goku was letting them rip, and that wasn't something that a person did when training by themselves.

Although she knew that she'd eventually grow tired of not being able to fire any blasts, Bra was loving the spar. The fact that she had to rely solely on hand-to-hand combat, and that she was going up against one of the greatest fighters in history, had given her a huge rush. Never had she experienced a spar as exciting or instructive as this one.

"Something wrong?" Goku asked, smirking arrogantly. Bra narrowed her eyes into a glare at him, knowing he was teasing her now.

"No," she replied, shifting ever so slightly. She pushed off with her feet, leaping forward in a rush to attack him.

He met her blow for blow, blocking all her punches. Suddenly he snatched at her hands, interlocking his fingers with hers, and she dug her feet into the ground, grunting and snarling as it suddenly became a battle of strength.

Their ki swirled about them as they pushed against each other, the two super beings straining against each other. Bra felt her feet beginning to slip backwards, and she knew she was losing the fight. She could see the win in Goku's eyes.

"What are you going to do now?" he chuckled, his voice sounding rich and husky to her ears.

Bra snapped. There was no way she was going to go down that easy.

Goku was suddenly thrown forward as Bra completely stopped pushing against him. Too late he realised what was happening, and by that point he was pinned under the small Super Saiyan, the woman forcing his arms flat against the ground as she pressed a knee into his stomach. He chuckled at her bold move, meeting her angry gaze. "You're a real spitfire, aren't you?" he teased.

All he got in reply was an angry snarl, before she flipped off him, turning back and barely giving him a chance to recover before aiming a roundhouse kick at his head. He dodged it, grabbing hold of her leg and making use of his larger mass to swing her around, sending her flying into the air. He heard her scream in frustration, and realised quickly that she was beginning to form one of her father's signature ki attacks.

Using Instant Transmission, he was behind her in an instant, wrapping his arms around hers in a tight lock, pulling her smaller arms back until her back was flush against hers. He'd lost his shirt early on in the spar, and her nearly-bare back slid against his torso, the temperature of her skin almost scorching him. Her head thudded hard against his shoulder as her arms strained, pulling back against his own, but he knew she was trapped. She just didn't have the strength to break such a hold.

"No ki blasts," he grunted as she slammed her head backwards and into him once more. "That was the deal."

"Argh!" she screamed, writhing in his grip. "I hate losing!" she cried, slamming her head back once more. Realising that she wasn't going to give up, Goku moved in front of her as fast as he could, wrapping his arms tight around her, pinning her own arms at her sides.

"Don't head-butt me," he snarled, his nose hovering a mere inch from her own. She writhed again, hissing under her breath, but eventually the crazed look in her eyes began to die down.

For a long time they just hovered there, his arms wrapped securely around hers as he held her in place. Goku spent the time examining her features, noticing the fact that she had freckles on her nose. He looked into her eyes and wondered if he looked as mesmerising in his Super Saiyan state.

"You can let go of me now," she eventually said, he voice no more than a whisper. He complied, and she hovered back a few feet, her arms wrapping around herself. Goku got that same gut-twisting feeling as he had the night before; she was wearing that saddened expression again. Suddenly the super being had withdrawn into herself, and Goku realised with surprise that despite the fact that she remained transformed, she looked vulnerable.

"I'm sorry I did that," he apologised. "But you were beginning to lose your head. I think we've had enough for one day."

"Yeah," she mumbled in reply, dropping out of Super Saiyan. They flew back to the capsule house in silence, the awkward tension between them thick in the air.

As he stepped through the door after her, he began to apologise again, but she cut him off.

"You were right to do that, Goku," she whispered. "Stop apologising for it. I was acting like a child."

He offered her a senzu bean- before the shit hit the fan yesterday, Krillin had given him ten of the healing beans- but she only took half, handing the other half back.

"This is all I need," she told him. It was sensible, he had to admit, but at that moment she reminded him so much of Vegeta that all he could do was shake his head numbly as she limped off to her room, the uneaten bean in her hand, and closed the door.

* * *

Vegeta frowned as he stood on the bedroom balcony, peering off into the distance. He'd been monitoring Kakarot's ki all day, and couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. First Kakarot had given off a dark energy, which heightened Vegeta's suspicions about the younger man remembering his infant programming. Then the Saiyan's energy had spiked with an air of excitement that only came from battle, and it had lasted like that for a good four hours. But he hadn't sensed another ki with Kakarot at all.

_Why would Kakarot get so excited about training by himself?_

Grunting, Vegeta shrugged, and stepped back into the bedroom. So long as Kakarot didn't go crazy all of the sudden and start attacking people, he couldn't really care less how the low class clown was feeling.

At least that's what he told himself.

* * *

Bra stepped out into the cool evening air in a pair of denim shorts and a white tank top. Following the smell of roasting meat, she walked around to the back of the house, surprise flitting across her features at what she saw.

Goku had built up a massive fire, and around it were the roasting carcasses of six deer, each held pointing towards the fire by a stake in the ground. Suddenly Goku appeared around the fire, a big grin plastered on his face, although the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. Bra realised he was trying to keep up a façade for her, and wondered what the man behind the happy mask was really thinking.

"They're almost ready," he told her, and she licked her lips in anticipation. It smelt great.

"You should have woken me up," she told him quietly, looking up at him. "I would have helped you out; I like hunting."

This time his smile was genuine as he looked down at her with an air of warmth, his right arm once again scratching the back of his head. "Nah," he said. "It wasn't trouble at all. Besides, I owe ya for coming here and helping me out and all."

Bra looked back at the fire, enjoying the warmth that emanated from it. The orange flames flickered high into the sky, and she looked up, watching as the first star appeared in the sky, followed quickly by a second, and then a third.

She could almost hear her mother's voice whispering _'Make a wish'_ and she wrapped her arms tight around herself. She missed them all so much.

For once, Goku didn't startle her when he placed a hand on her shoulder. She reached up, covering the large hand with her own small one, and they stood like that for a long time.

Even as she wondered why the Goku of her timeline had even left the planet, she knew the answer. There was a deep, deep sense of loneliness that hovered between them. She gripped his hand tighter, and felt him squeeze her shoulder in return.

Her mother had been right, as always. It was the little gestures that counted the most.


	9. Monsters of the Night

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z.**

* * *

**Monsters of the Night**

"Goten, honey?" Bulma asked, clutching her robe tighter around herself in response to the cold breeze. "What are you doing out here so late? Does your Mom know you're here?"

The little boy shook his head, avoiding her gaze as he stood there, his shoulders hunched and feet restlessly shuffling on the ground. Bulma sighed, suddenly grateful that Vegeta still wasn't in from training.

It was already dark, and the moon shone brightly in the sky. Bulma took note of the fact that it would be full soon, and a shiver ran up her spine. She loved all the Saiyans in her life, but there were still some parts of Saiyan nature that she found a little disconcerting. Even without their tails both Vegeta and Trunks felt the pull of the full moon, and often disappeared for the night, only to return in the morning tired and covered in blood from fighting each other and hunting animals. She was suddenly glad that Goten hadn't arrived on one of those nights.

"Well come inside, sweetie," she said gently, motioning for him to step inside and away from the cold. Goten hesitated on the bedroom balcony, his little head turning to look down in the direction of the gravity simulator, and Bulma smiled.

"Vegeta won't growl at you," she said, and offered the small boy her hand. He took it shyly- something out of character for the usually cheerful child- and Bulma led him inside.

Fifteen minutes later they were sitting together on one of the living room couches, sipping hot chocolates. Goten was still being uncharacteristically quiet, despite her attempts to get him to talk. Instead he seemed to lean into her, blinking down at his warm drink and chewing on his lip, as if he was afraid to say what he was thinking.

It was getting to the point where Bulma felt tempted to wake her own son in order to cheer the child up. She had been hoping to discover what was wrong before contacting Chi Chi- Goten's absence at home was bound to be noticed soon- but time was running short.

She shifted, placing her empty mug on the small table beside the chair, when Goten finally spoke.

"Is my Daddy a bad man?" he asked quietly, his voice wavering. "Gohan always told me nice stories about him, but..." he sniffled, and Bulma stared wide eyed at the child, "but he yelled at Mama and made her sad, and it was scary!" he finished, his voice rising into a wail.

"Oh, honey," Bulma cooed, taking the hot chocolate from his trembling hands and wrapping her arms tightly around him. He melted into her, pressing his face into her bosom in the way that all children do for comfort. She rubbed his back soothingly, rocking gently back and forth.

"Shh, there, there," she whispered quietly. "No, you're Daddy is a wonderful man," she told him. "He's one of the nicest, most kind-hearted people I know."

"But why did he yell at Mommy then?" Goten whispered back. "Mommy cried all night, and Tom was saying swear words about my Daddy, and Gohan was grumpy too," he pouted, rubbing his runny nose with the back of his hand.

Bulma paused, rubbing Goten's back again. She had to be careful with what she said to the little boy, lest it be misconstrued. She bit her lip, thinking.

"Sometimes," she began slowly, "Mommies and Daddies fight with each other. Not martial arts fighting!" she added, seeing confusion already beginning to flit across Goten's face. "I mean that sometimes Mommies and Daddies yell at each other. It doesn't mean that they don't care about each other. It just means that they might be a bit frustrated with each other."

"Frustrated?" Goten sniffled.

"It means a bit angry, or confused, or upset. They might both have different ideas about something, and they might both think that they're right. But all Mommies and Daddies fight at some time or another, so you don't have to let it bother you, okay? Vegeta and I fight all the time; you've heard us!"

"So Daddy's still good?" Goten asked quietly.

"Of course," Bulma smiled in reply. "Your Daddy loves you very much."

The little boy still seemed dissatisfied with the answer. He played with the edge of her robe, twirling the fabric between his little fingers.

"Gohan says that we're not going to go visit Daddy this weekend."

Bulma sighed, pulling Goten further onto her lap. "Gohan just needs some time to think. He got embarrassed because your Mommy and Daddy had their fight in front of everyone at the graduation party, but he'll get over it, and then everything will get back to normal."

"Promise?" Goten asked, his little face pleading up at her.

"I promise," she whispered, hugging him tightly.

She hoped that it was true.

. . .

Bra woke with a jolt in the night, her heart racing as she tried to work out whether she dreamt the loud thud she had heard or not. When another thump came from the bedroom next door she jumped out of bed without a second thought, swinging the door to Goku's room open and switching on the light.

She realised quickly that the thumping came from Goku's head, repetitively hitting his drawn up knees. Before he could do it again, she was over there, pressing against his shoulders with enough force to make him stop the movement.

He snarled up at her reflexively, a terrifying look in his eyes. Then as suddenly as the aggression appeared, it was gone, replaced with remorse and sorrow.

"I…"

"It's okay," she began. "Shh, it's okay." She sat down on the bed, pulling the oversized t-shirt she was wearing down over her crossed legs so that it gave her at least some modesty.

Goku was about to apologise again, when she brushed his forehead, pulling her hand away to find her fingers sticky with blood. She frowned at him worriedly.

"You know that hitting your head again won't fix it, right?" she questioned. "You'll just hurt yourself more."

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "I feel like I'm not myself anymore. Like I'm being possessed," he admitted quietly, keeping his eyes closed.

The room fell silent, the only sound coming from their quiet breaths, and the continuous patter of rain outside. Finally she spoke.

"Trust me, you are _not_ possessed."

Something about the way she said it made Goku look at her. He examined her guarded expression, which suddenly reminded him so much of Vegeta.

"What's wrong with me then?" he asked.

"Well I don't know," she replied shifting her legs. He suddenly noticed her proximity to him, and the way she was dressed, and began to feel a little uncomfortable. This was his friends' daughter, so he definitely didn't want to think about how smooth her legs looked, or how he had noticed that she wasn't wearing a bra.

"Goku?"

"Huh?"

"I said I won't know what's going on with you unless you tell me about it first. What exactly are you seeing? Are they images that you're getting in your dreams, or voices?"

He looked into her eyes, frowning slightly. He felt uncomfortable talking about something like this; apart from the heart virus that he got when the androids arrived, he had never been seriously sick in his life. He didn't like the feeling of having something wrong with him, and he didn't want to share how messed up he felt about it.

Bra sighed and got up, leaving the room quietly. Goku guessed that she thought there wasn't any point in talking to him about it, and he lay back down, closing his eyes again. He frowned after a few seconds, though, realising that he'd have to get up to switch the light off.

He opened his eyes in surprise when Bra walked back into the room, carrying a first aid kit. She sat down beside his shoulders, pushing him back down as he started to sit up again. "Just let me take care of your head," she murmured, wetting a cotton pad with saline solution and using it to wipe the wound on his forehead.

"It's nothing," he said quietly, only just realising how croaky his voice sounded.

"You'll bleed on the pillow," she replied with an air of simple practicality. "I'll just bandage it up."

He didn't know why he let her treat him this way. He'd practically just met her, and here she was, sitting on his bed and patching him up. He was smart enough not to protest about it, though; even as a little as he knew her, he could tell that she was stubborn like her parents. He knew that any requests to leave him alone it would simply fall on deaf ears.

He watched her as she leaned over him, noticing the way her eyes were slightly more angular than Bulma's, and the fact that her bottom lip was slighter plumper than her mother's. Her long hair was tied in a loose braid, and the end swung down over her shoulder, hitting him in the face.

"Woops, sorry!" she laughed, throwing the braid back behind her head. Goku twitched his nose; her hair smelt nice. He brushed the thought away with a sigh.

"I'm sorry I woke you," he murmured seriously. Her eyes met his for a moment as she pressed a bandage into place, before she looked away, busying herself in packing away the first aid kit. He watched her movements, admiring her gracefulness. In his mind Bulma had always seemed a little clumsy, but her daughter was the complete opposite. It was Bra's Saiyan blood that made the difference, he supposed.

The thought of Saiyans made him feel a little sick. He hadn't felt this self-loathing since he had first found out he was a Saiyan, and what Saiyans were like. But back then he had no personal memories of violence, he had no urges to go and kill, and it had been easy for him to distance himself from his dead race. Now he had seen, through his own mind, the world in which he was born and the bloodthirstiness of the Saiyan people. It scared him to no end that he had almost become that himself; that if not for the bump on his head as a child, the entire Human race would have become extinct.

And now that the memories were back; now that his own mind was ordering him to complete that mission, he was terrified of himself. What if something happened, and he suddenly snapped and went crazy?

He knew, though, that he really would be driven crazy if he didn't talk to someone about the visions, and so he relented, closing his eyes and forcing himself to think about the things he had seen and heard in his dreams.

"Sometimes it's just a computerized voice, telling me things about Saiyans and showing pictures of life on Planet Vegeta," he began. "It introduces your father, and Vegeta's father, the King. It tells me to be loyal to them."

He heard Bra close the case on the kit, the bed shifting under her movements. "Does it say much about Saiyan culture?" she asked, and he felt her stroke his head, her hand gliding over his patched up wound before finding the hidden scar on his scalp that lay buried beneath his mass of hair.

"Only really that Saiyans fight. That Saiyans are made to kill," he whispered, enjoying the soothing feeling of her hand on his head, her fingers massaging the scar gently. "It doesn't say much about anything else. It just keeps saying _'Look at the moon, Kakarot' _and _'Destroy all life forms'_."

"Do you want to do that?"

"No!" he yelled, his eyes opening in a flash. At her shocked expression he realised that he had surprised her- maybe even scared her- and closed his eyes with a tired sigh, dragging a hand across his face. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean to yell."

Her hand went back to his head, and he couldn't help the sigh that escaped his lips. Why was it that she seemed to be able to comfort him like this, and after he had just yelled at her, no less?

"What I meant before," she said, speaking in a soft whisper, "was do you ever feel the urge to do such things? It's understandable if you do, given the programming."

He frowned, rolling over so that his back faced her, forcing her hand to leave its perch within his hair. He didn't want to admit anything… if he did, it would make it seem more real. And right now he was happy enough to keep pretending that he was fine.

Her hand landed back on his head, and he huffed, pulling his sheets higher around him. "I'm going to sleep now," he told her. "Goodnight."

Her hand lingered for a moment, her thin fingers caressing the scar, before she got up off the bed.

"Goodnight," she said softly, switching off the light. The door closed with a click, and he was alone with his thoughts once more.

When he woke in the morning all he could recall from his dreams was the soft voice of a woman, her comforting fingers in his hair.

. . .

Goku sat on the grass outside the capsule house, enjoying the afternoon sun. He was sharpening a stick into pointed spear, and felt at peace as he mindlessly whittled away the wood with his knife. It was the kind of job that he enjoyed; it didn't require much thought, and yet it kept him sufficiently occupied to avoid any other thoughts that threatened to run through his head. Employed as he was, he didn't notice that Bra had stepped outside until he heard her speak.

"I'm going out," she announced, and he looked up from his job. He squinted- the sun was in his eyes- and cocked his head to the side.

"Wher-y?" he asked. He'd wanted to ask both 'where?' and 'why?', but somehow the words got jumbled up between his brain and his mouth. Bra simply laughed and reached out one hand, deftly plucking a stray wood chip from his hair. She stepped to the side, obscuring the blinding sunlight, and he stopped squinting.

"I'm just going out to the nearest town," she replied. "And as for why... as much as I love fresh meat and fish- and I really, really do, especially after being in space for so long- I think it's probably good for the both of us if I pick up a fridge full of veggies. I know there's heaps of wild fruit around, but with two Saiyans living here this area's going to end up a barren wasteland if we don't ration ourselves."

"That's true," he nodded, "but do you have any money?" Money was something he didn't have at all; the only time he'd ever been paid was for winning the World Martial Arts Tournament at eighteen, and he hadn't ever paid attention to where that money went afterwards.

At his question, Bra gave him a smile that seemed both pleased and a little guilty. "My Mom always kept a stash of emergency cash in the house," she replied, "in case anything ever happened and we needed a whole lot of money in a hurry. When I returned to Earth in my timeline and went back home for the time machine, I also cleared out the cash stash," she explained quietly, her expression growing distant as she spoke of Capsule Corporation. She took a deep breath, and ran a hand back through her long hair, before her eyes met his, her face suddenly back in the here and now. She gave him a small, bittersweet smile.

"As long as we don't go 'round buying fancy cars," she said, "I think we have enough money to last us for the next five years, until I'm born in this timeline."

"Wow," he replied, his eyebrows rising in surprise. "Sounds like a lot."

"A couple of mil," she said nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders. "It _is_ a lot, but nothing compared to what Mom's worth. As a child I never respected the money," she added quietly, "until Goten and I escaped Earth, and we had none."

"Goten?" Goku asked. "He was with you? In space?" Bra hadn't told him much about her life after her parent's death, only that she had escaped and had spent the rest of the time running from whatever monster had attacked in the first place. Goku grew curious; she'd never mentioned his youngest son before, but she had said that everyone in her timeline was dead. He supposed that Goten must have died in some later attack, and his stomach churned. If some monster was coming to Earth he needed to train for it, even if the battle was twenty years away. He couldn't just sit still with the knowledge that his friends and family were in danger.

Bra's face had paled at his question about Goten, before her cheeks flushed red. "Anyways, I shouldn't really be introducing a few extra million zeni into this timeline," she said quickly, avoiding his question completely, "but since we'll be spending it over a long period of time it should be okay. I just hope no one picks up on the fact that it wasn't minted until ten years from now," she added with a flustered laugh, running her hand back through her hair again in a nervous habit that seems surprisingly similar to his own.

She stepped back quickly, turning her back to him as she did so. "I'll be back in a few hours," she said over her shoulder, and gave him a quick wave. He watched her take to the air, making note of the direction that she flew in. With her ki masked by that strange device he couldn't sense her at all, and so made a point of watching where she went until she was out of sight.

Once she had disappeared over the horizon he leaned his head back against the side of the capsule house, sighing and closing his eyes. He hadn't missed the way she'd changed the subject at the mention of Goten, and frowned. He wondered what had really happened in her timeline, and felt a chill run down his spine. She had been extremely vague with all of the information she had told him so far; he didn't even know the name or nature of the monster that was coming, and that disturbed him. A voice in his head questioned her motivations for seeking him out.

He opened his eyes, staring at the clearing before him. A blue bird swooped down from a nearby tree, the tiny creature hopping warily in the grass while searching for food. The bird paused after each short series of hops, twitching its head to and fro to keep an eye out for predators. The bird seemed perpetually nervous, and always on guard.

Goku smiled. He'd felt that way during many fights, especially the fight against Frieza. After watching Krillin die he'd been angry, hurt, devastated, and terrified. His biggest fear had been failing, because the lives of so many others depended upon him. He'd been determined not to lose, determined not to let any others die by Frieza's hands.

The blue bird had found a worm, but continued to hop towards him, its prey dangling from its beak. The bird paused once more, still on guard, before taking to the air. Goku watched it go, and closed his eyes once more, relaxing back against the house.

_Thank you_, he thought, to no one in particular but nature itself.

This was why he enjoyed the outdoors so much. Life on Earth had lessons to offer anyone who bothered to watch and observe, and in the years between his Grandfather's death and the day he met Bulma, Mother Nature had been his constant teacher. On any given day he could take a walk outside and learn something new, not only about the lives of animals, but about himself, and others as well.

The bird had reminded him Bra. It was always guarded because it feared those higher on the food chain, and he supposed that Bra felt the same way. She'd spent the last seven years living in a world where her parents had been killed, and where she was always on the run. She had a right to feel cautious, a right to hold back information that was both upsetting and personal.

He took a deep breath, taking in the sweet smell of fresh air. Bra was a good person, he mused. He'd sensed that immediately, the first time he met her. Her ki shield now blocked him from sensing her feelings like he usually did with people, but he had already felt on that first day- before she'd put the shield on- that she was both trustworthy and loyal. It was odd to think that he'd only known her for a few days, because despite her secretiveness around her past, he felt comfortable around her, as if she was an old friend, and not a new acquaintance.

In that way Bra was a lot like her mother; he'd felt comfortable around Bulma from the moment he met her. Although he was far wiser now than he had been as a child, he knew it was not his naiveté that had caused him to trust Bulma, but the simple fact that Bulma was a good person who was worth trusting. She'd changed his life for the better, banishing the loneliness that came from being orphaned, and had introduced him to new friends, and an exciting new life.

Now it seemed as if Bra would be doing the same. It made him uneasy to think about the fact that in her timeline he had already disappeared, never to return. There had been so many emotions stirring inside him on the day of Gohan's graduation, and it scared him to think that without Bra's intervention, he could have ended up so lost that not even the Kais could find him. His Saiyan memories still terrified him, but there was something reassuring in the knowledge that Bra- another Super Saiyan, and the Saiyan Princess to boot- would be there to prevent anything should he really lose control.

He nodded to himself. It seemed that Bra intended to stick around, and that in itself was reassuring.

He went back to his work, feeling more at peace than he had in a long time, as if some invisible load had lifted from his shoulders.

. . .

"Shit," Bra hissed as she flew through the air, her blue locks whipping in the wind. She couldn't believe that she had made such a monumental slip-up as to mention Goten so casually, despite the fact that deep down she knew that the information would come out somehow.

The problem was that she just didn't know how to explain her marriage to anyone. Her relationship with Goten had been messy, to say the least, and she didn't know what to say to Goku about it. Her obvious evasion of his simple question meant that Goku would no doubt be curious now.

She had a big fat knot in her stomach now, and it was making her feel sick. Part of her wanted to tell Goku everything; she'd been alone for so long, and was in desperate need of a friend who she could simply _talk_ to about everything that had happened in her life. But on the other hand she was terrified; terrified of what Goku- or anyone, for that matter- would think of her, of Goten, and of the whole situation.

And then there was the fact that Goku was Goten's father. Goten's sexy, sweet, magnetic father, who had problems of his own to deal with. In the four nights that she had been here for, he'd had two bad nightmares involving his Saiyan memories. She had spent countless hours racking her brain for ways to relieve his problems, but was still at a loss on how to help, other than to offer him general support.

She bit down hard on her lip, as she always did when she worried about something. Her marriage to Goten wasn't the only thing she'd been keeping from Goku; she had also been extremely vague when telling Goku about the attack that killed her parents. She hadn't told him who the perpetrator was, and she hadn't told him how it had happened. At first she had refrained from doing so because he had been so upset after the graduation party, but that was a few days ago now, and she had come to realise that she would eventually need to tell him the truth about what had happened to all Earthlings, Nameks, and countless others in her timeline.

Most of all, she realised- although the thought of telling Goku daunted her- that he needed to know the truth about what had happened to him.

With a sigh she pushed all apprehensive thoughts aside, and forced herself to focus on the task ahead of her instead. She was determined to get Goku some new gi to train in, as well as some new training gear for herself. That was the real reason for her making the trip out today, despite the fact that they really did need some vegetables and other household goods.

She touched down just outside of a bustling town, looking around to check that no one had seen her. She wore a simple but elegant outfit, fit for an afternoon of shopping. Black ballet flats complemented the dark skinny jeans and red coat that she'd taken from the capsule house's wardrobe -did her mother really think Goku was the kind of man who would be having _that_ many one night stands?- and a pair of fashionable oversized sunglasses adorned her face.

She quickly pulled a hair tie and pins out of her pocket, and used them to pin her blue hair back in a simple bun. She then pulled a black scarf from one of the large pockets within her coat, and used it to cover her hair. She'd have tied and covered her hair back at the house, but the flight over would have messed it all up.

She didn't want to wear the headscarf, but she wasn't foolish enough to go wandering around the town without some sort of disguise. Although she could see the differences between herself and her mother, most people could not, and she couldn't risk being mistaken for the iconic Bulma Briefs. It had the potential to cause too much trouble, especially because she knew her mother had, until her own birth, prided herself on being _uniquely_ beautiful.

With her outfit in place, Bra strolled into the town, confident that the wad of cash in her pocket would buy her all that she needed for the day.

. . .

The doorbell to the seamstress' small shop rang as Bra stepped inside for the second time in the day. It was five minutes to five- just before closing time- and she hoped that her order had been completed as requested.

Part of her felt bad for demanding such a big order- she'd wanted fifteen complete gi sewn for Goku, and had given the small team of workers in here only a few hours to complete the job. They'd told her it wasn't possible, but she'd flashed her wad of cash and promised them all handsome tips, and they'd quickly changed their minds.

Bra peered through an open doorway behind the counter, which led into what she assumed was a large backroom. From what she could see- rolls upon rolls of fabric sat stacked along at least one wall- she could tell that it was the workshop. Suddenly a large woman strolled out through the doorway, a large grin appearing on her face as she did so.

"Madame!" the head seamstress called, "Your order is almost complete! We are working on the final touches now!"

"Wonderful," she told the woman. "If you don't mind, I'd like to check things over before I go."

"Of course, of course," the seamstress replied, waving her big arms about. At that moment three other staff- two women and one man- came out, each carrying a pile of orange and blue clothing. The final two men working in the small store came out carrying a pile of blue undershirts between them, and Bra grinned. They were clearly the weighted shirts she had ordered.

"There are two more piles out back," the youngest worker- a boy who looked to be no more than fifteen- said, before disappearing out back once more with his colleague. By the third trip out, both were panting and clearly exhausted from carrying the weighted shirts, and Bra bit the inside of her cheeks to stop herself from laughing.

"Check them all, Madame," the shop keeper told her. "I am certain they will satisfy your requirements."

Bra smiled, picking up one of the orange shirts. They outfits were perfect, right down to the blue weighted wristbands. "It's all wonderful," she told the workers, reaching into her coat pocket for her cash. She handed over the promised amount to the shop keeper- a good five thousand zeni, plus a thousand as a tip- before giving each of the workers another thousand.

"Thank you, Madame," the shopkeeper beamed, her eyes practically glittering. "Do come again anytime."

"Will do," Bra replied, opening up a simple Capsule Corp. storage container. She quickly picked up all the clothing and placed it carefully inside, stacking the folded gear in an orderly fashion. She watched with amusement as the young boy's eyes practically bugged out when she lifted the weighted clothing with ease, and could hardly keep the laughter out of her voice as she capsulized the storage container and said her goodbyes.

She took to the air once more, her coat pocket carrying less money, but many more capsules full of clothes, food, drinks, magazines, books, and a variety of other things. She tore off her black scarf, and stuffed it back in another coat pocket. The last rays of sunlight fell upon her hair, making the blue strands glow with a golden aura.

A grin stretched across her face. It had been seven long years since she had last had a decent shop with a nice, healthy sum of money to spend.

Damn, it was good to be back on Earth.

. . .

"Goku?"

"Yeah," Goku replied, and sat up on the bed. He'd been tempted to go hunting without Bra, seeing that she was taking longer than expected to return, but in the end had opted to wait for her. They'd had fish for the last two nights in a row (she'd proven to be exceptional at his kind of fishing, which involved picking the biggest fish and bashing it over the head), and she had told him that she wanted to be included the next time he went hunting for land animals, because she loved the thrill of the chase.

To wait out the time he'd been relaxing on his bed, going over their morning spar in his head. He was slowly beginning to memorise Bra's fighting style, which seemed to consist of a mix of most of his friends' techniques, although it was definitely Vegeta-heavy. Strangely enough, though, there seemed to be techniques that Gohan used a lot, and one that he knew came from Chi Chi's style. Thinking about the particular move that his ex-wife was once famous for had led him to further thoughts about Chi Chi, and Goku was glad for the distraction when he heard Bra come through the front door and call for him.

She appeared in the doorway to his bedroom, and he felt something tighten in his chest. Her aquamarine hair was swept back from the wind, tendrils hanging lazily over her shoulders, and her cheeks were flushed pink. She stood in a figure-hugging black tee and dark jeans, and held a red coat over one arm.

To him she looked every bit a princess; simple, and yet stunningly beautiful.

She grinned at him- a real grin, that lit up her sparkling eyes- and he felt something inside him stir. He was suddenly aware of her scent, such a delicious mix of sweetness and earthy spice, and the fact that they were alone, in a bedroom, with no one present for miles around.

"Hey," Bra said quietly.

"Hey," he replied, and feeling a little warm. As much as he liked to think of himself as an honourable man, he was still a living, breathing person with desires like anyone else, and images of Bra, naked and wanting, suddenly ran unbridled through his head. Part of him- a certain part, which now stirred to life beneath his waistline- ached for her flesh, and he swallowed the spittle in his mouth, his adam's apple bobbing with the action.

He needed to think of something else, fast. He remembered his hunger, and the fact that today he felt like eating fresh, raw meat.

"Do you want to…" he began, at the same time as she said "I've got something…" They both paused, and she giggled.

"You go," she said, gesturing to him.

"No, s'okay," he said back, waving an arm at her. "Ladies first."

She grinned more at that, and moved to sit in front of him on the bed, leaving one leg stretched out as she bent the other in front of her. He looked over her body with admiration as she did so, and said the first thing that came into his mind.

"You're such a tiny person."

He realised that he might have said the wrong thing when the smile disappeared from her face, to be replaced with something akin to anger and shock. "No!" he said, waving his arms in front of him, "I didn't mean it in a bad way," he babbled, "I mean, you're really pretty, and so small, like someone could just pick you up… it's cute!"

He shut his mouth, determined not so say anything more. He'd learnt long ago that his mouth was a dangerous thing that tended to say more than one should. He'd already put his foot in it, and he wasn't going to go ahead and dig himself any deeper.

Bra was no longer looking at him; instead she seemed occupied with a bunch of capsules that she'd pulled from out of her coat pocket. She picked one out, and then glanced up at him, peering into his eyes from beneath her long lashes.

"You think I'm pretty?" she asked, a soft smile gracing her cherry lips.

Damn.

"I do," he replied truthfully, suddenly feeling a little apprehensive. Time seemed to stand still for a moment, and he sat there staring into her big blue eyes. Her tongue darted out for a moment, wetting her bottom lip, and he felt himself mimicking the small gesture. Suddenly he wanted to close the distance, to taste those plump lips, and his heart beat just a little faster.

"This is for you," she said quickly, shattering the moment as she roughly shoved a capsule towards him. He stared at the capsule in her hand, not quite comprehending what she meant, until she shook it in his face and said impatiently "Well open it already!"

"Oh," he replied lamely, clicking the capsule top down and throwing the small object on the floor. A large plastic box materialised, and he frowned. "Um, thanks?" he said, wondering why she wanted to give him a box.

"Look _inside_, Goku," she said, making him feel a little foolish. He wasn't used to people giving him gifts, and this had thrown him off guard. In fact, she'd thrown him off guard from the moment she'd stepped through the bedroom doorway.

He crouched down on the floor and opened the lid, rocking back on his heels as he peered inside. He looked up at Bra, surprise plastered on his face, before reaching into the box and pulling out the first item of clothing; an orange over-shirt.

"Where did you get these from?" he asked quietly, setting the shirt aside and pulling out a pair of orange pants. He stood up, holding the pants up against him. "They're perfect!"

"I had them made today," she replied, smiling. "I figured you could do with some more, so I had fifteen sets made. I didn't have any kanji sewn on them; I figured that was a personal thing and I wasn't just going to presume that you would wear a certain kanji, plus Mama told me once that you stopped wearing any symbols by the time that you fought Cell."

"Yeah," he replied, feeling an overwhelming surge of happiness well up inside him. His mouth stretched wide into a grin as he reached back into the box, pulling out a blue undershirt. "It's weighted!" he exclaimed, laughing. The weight was negligible, but it was still something.

"Yeah," she laughed back. "You should have seen the poor workers at the store, Goku! It took two guys to lift five of those shirts, and I swear the youngest one almost fainted when he saw me pick all fifteen up with one hand!"

He laughed, imagining the scene. Bra stood up, taking the undershirt from him and holding it up against his body. "I hope it's the right size," she said, peering up at him.

"It looks good to me," he replied quietly, his hands brushing over hers as he took the shirt back. "I'll try it on now."

"Try on the whole outfit," she replied, stepping back. "I'll wait outside."

She turned, and stepped out of the room, reaching for the bedroom door as she did so. "Bra," he called softly, and she turned to face him, the door stopping mid-swing.

"Thank you," he said. "I really appreciate it."

She cocked her head to the side. "You're welcome, Goku," she replied, before quietly shutting the door.

. . .

The sun had set, but there was still the barest hint of light in the sky. The brightest stars were out, however, as well as the full moon. Bra pointed at it, running her tongue over her teeth as she did so. Her canines were elongated, and she chuckled, her voice sounding deeper, throatier, to her own ears.

"Hell of a night for hunting," she whispered, looking up at Goku. His eyes reflected back at hers in the moonlight, and his mouth spread wide in that wolfish, animalistic grin of his, exposing his enlarged, fanglike canines.

"Yeah," he agreed, his own deep chuckle sending shivers down her spine. It was at times like this that she recognised the true nature of Saiyans; whether she liked it or not- and she did like it- the full moon always brought out the animal in her. Her tail had been removed when she was an infant, but she still went through a subtle transformation when she looked at the full moon. Her voice grew huskier, her canines grew longer, and her hearing, sense of smell, and night vision sharpened. The changes always went undetected by most Humans- only those who knew about Saiyans ever recognised the differences in her- but they were there all the same.

The same had happened to Goku, and he stood before her now looking like the perfect predator, his muscles accentuated by the lines of his new gi. She suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to challenge him to a fight, and forced herself to step back, to focus on her hungry stomach instead. It was easy to get a little carried away during a full moon, and it was best if she focused on attacking animals rather than friends.

"How did you manage to avoid transforming during all those years when you had your tail?" she asked quietly, as they slowly crept into the forest. Even under the cover of the trees, where the moonlight only filtered through to the forest floor, she could see Goku's face clearly, and watched as his brows turned slowly down in a frown.

"Well, my grandfather told me that a monster came out during a full moon, and forbid me from going outside when there was one."

"The monster was you?"

"Yes," he replied, his deep voice reverberating off the trees around them.

Bra picked up an animal scent- some sort of carnivore- and paused. She felt Goku stop just behind her, the heat from his body making the skin on her back prickle.

"Because I have never remembered my Saiyan transformations," he spoke quietly, his deep voice seeming to echo within her own body, "I never knew what this felt like, until my tail was removed. I still had no idea why I was forbidden to look at a full moon when I finally dared to, and then this happened," he said, and she turned to look at him, taking in his inhuman appearance.

"How old were you, when you first experienced this?" she asked, her voice equally as quiet.

"I was sixteen," he replied, "and it scared the shit out of me."

She lifted her hand, placing it gently on his arm. He stared down at her, his figure suddenly seeming huge compared to her small frame. An owl hooted in the distance, the eerie noise drifting through the trees.

"I realised then that I wasn't normal," he whispered, "but it was another eight years before I found out that I was a Saiyan, and another year after that before I found out about the transformation."

Bra blinked in surprise. "But my mother saw you transform," she whispered. "She's seen you do it twice."

"They never told me," he replied. "Didn't want to hurt my feelings, I guess," he added, a note of bitterness creeping into his voice. "It was me who killed my grandfather, after all, though I remember nothing of it. I didn't realise that the monster was me until I fought your father and watched him transform."

He stepped away, moving around her until he stood a few meters ahead of her. "That must have been tough, to go through it all alone. To not know about Saiyans, or what was happening to your own body," she said sympathetically, turning to face his back.

She watched his shoulders shift slightly, and she knew the topic bothered him. "There's some wolves ahead," he growled softly, ignoring her last statement. As if to confirm it, a howl rang out in the distance.

"Are they endangered in these parts?" she asked, the scent of the wolves suddenly filling her nostrils, making her stomach rumble. "I don't want to kill any species off."

"No, there's plenty around here," Goku replied. Bra stepped forward, moving silently across the forest floor, until she stood beside the large Saiyan man. They were in a patch of moonlight, and she couldn't help looking up at the large, glowing orb. It made her want to cry out suddenly, and she felt her heart thump in her chest, the furry patch where her tail once was suddenly aching.

She closed her eyes, vividly recalling the first time she'd ever felt like this. She'd been six, and had stepped outside to see her Daddy, who, for some strange reason, had missed dinner.

_The wind pulled at her skirt, lifting it up so that the cool air rushed about her legs. Her Daddy had recently taught her how to sense people, and she could sense him in Granny's rose garden, so she headed in that direction. Even though it was dark, the ground still seemed lit up, and she wondered if Grandpa had put new outside lights up. She looked around, but couldn't see anything unusual, and then looked up at the sky._

"_Oh! Pretty!" she cried, reaching up towards the moon. "It's so big!"_

_Her heart began to beat wildly, and her lower back began to hurt. She suddenly felt angry, like she wanted to hit something, and sick. Her teeth hurt and she could feel something loose in her mouth. She spat into her hand, screaming when she saw blood and two baby teeth._

_Daddy appeared kneeling in front of her, and she leaned into his body automatically, breathing in his comforting smell as she began to sob. "I don't feel good!" she cried, "And my teeth fell out! Make it stop Daddy!"_

_She looked up at her Daddy's face, and screamed in fear. His eyes were glowing and his teeth were sharp, making him look even scarier than he did as a Super Saiyan._

"_It's all right, girl," he told her, holding her tightly by the shoulders. "You are fine. It is simply your Saiyan nature coming through."_

"_What's wrong with your eyes?" she cried. "You look scary, Daddy! Daddy I'm scared!"_

_She didn't want to look at his face, so pressed herself into his chest instead. Her Daddy's big arms enveloped her, lifting her off the ground, and she sobbed into his shirt. "Is it still you, Daddy?" she asked, clutching his shirt tightly as she pressed her face into his chest, taking in deep breaths. She felt herself calming down; she loved the way her Daddy smelled, and how he was so warm and snuggly. He didn't like lots of hugs and kisses like Mama did, but he always let her sit on his lap, and she knew that the safest place in the whole world was in her Daddy's strong arms._

"_It is still me, child," he said quietly, his deep voice rumbling through her. She pressed her ear up against his chest, and listened to his heart thumping heavily._

"_My heart feels funny," she whimpered. "Am I having a heart attack? Am I dying?"_

"_No," Daddy chuckled. "Far from it, silly girl." She sniffled, pressing herself further into him._

"_My teeth," she whispered._

"_You grew some better ones," Daddy replied. "They're Saiyan teeth. Feel for yourself."_

_She did as she was told, tentatively lifting her small hand to her mouth once more. She poked around, yelping as she spiked herself on a newly grown tooth._

"_Ouchie!"_

"_She's fine!" Daddy yelled, and she squirmed in his grip, twisting her head around. Her pretty Mama stood in the middle of the lawn, blue hair shining in the moonlight. She looked like a princess, and Bra smiled. Mama smiled back at her, but Bra could tell it was strained. It was the same smile Mama used when she worked and had to talk to ugly old men in suits, who used big words and stared at Mama like they wanted to eat her when they thought Mama wasn't looking._

"_I heard her screaming," Mama said, sounding worried. "I turned my back for only a minute…"_

"_She's fine, woman," Daddy replied, talking over Mama. "It's about time she learnt, anyway. She isn't some breakable Human like you."_

"_She's only six, Vegeta," Mama said, sounding angry now. "You remember that. She's still a baby."_

_A growl rumbled through Daddy's chest, making her shiver. "We'll be back in the morning," he said, and then they were flying through the air. Bra squealed with excitement, her previous fear forgotten. She loved it when Daddy or Trunks flew her places, and she lifted her head, squinting as the wind rushed past her and made her hair flutter about. _

_She looked at the moon again, and felt anticipation building up inside her. She knew she was going to do something special with Daddy._

Another howl brought her back to the present, and she shivered. She'd never forget that night; the way everything seemed so new, the way strength that she never knew she had seemed to pour out of her. Her adult canine teeth had grown through the moment she had looked at the moon, pushing her baby teeth out, and for a while she'd looked like a demented vampire child, overly large canines framing the gaping holes left by her missing front teeth, much to her mother's dismay.

She sighed. Throughout her childhood her father had been her guide, showing her what it meant to be Saiyan, encouraging her alien side- as she had seen it back then- to come forth. On that first night he'd taken her to a forest much like this one, carrying her on his shoulders as he stalked silently through the undergrowth. _"Are you hungry?"_ he had asked, his voice little more than a deep growl. _"I think you are."_

She could hear his voice so clearly now that it seemed to echo about her. She remembered the way he'd set her down, made her watch as he killed a deer effortlessly. She'd been mortified at the death of the creature, which had looked so similar to her _Bambi_ soft toy at home, but her father had coaxed the Saiyan out of her. She'd made her own kill by the end of the night, and had returned home in the early hours of the morning with a bloated stomach and a dress covered in blood.

For her it had always been hard to reconcile her Human side with her Saiyan one. It was why she'd avoided fighting for so long, choosing instead to throw herself into clothes and makeup, dreams of boys and endless shopping trips. And yet she had felt the pull of her inner Saiyan every full moon, the animal growing stronger and stronger over time. By the time she was ten she spent every full moon outdoors, her Daddy always by her side. They were monsters together, just him and her. It had been their little secret.

More often than not, she wondered why her father had never pushed her more to fight. Those thoughts always led to her feeling guilty; she should have trained, rather than acting as a weak spectator. Her lack of strength had disappointed him, she was sure of that. How could she have dared to call herself a Saiyan Princess, when she had not truly embraced what her father was?

"Are you hungry?" Goku asked, his voice a deep purr.

"_Are you hungry?"_ _her father asked, his voice echoing in the darkness._

"Very," she replied, and sprung forth.

. . .

Bra sat perched upon a large boulder, furry wolf skins and blood-stained bones strewn about her feet. Goku watched as she licked her fingers one by one, her white fangs gleaming in the moonlight and her eyes glowing as they focused on her bloody hands. A drop of blood dripped from her jaw, adding to the messy stain of red that covered her cleavage.

Goku wondered if it was the effects of the full moon that had him feeling so strange tonight. He dug his fingers into the dirt around him, forcing himself to stay put, all the while watching the Saiyan Princess attempt to clean her hands, her blue hair luminescent in the moonlight.

She was beautiful in this moment; an elegant alien monster focused only on her futile battle to clean herself. He felt that he could have fixed himself to that spot forever, and wished suddenly that he had saved one of his kills for her. The logical part of his brain told him the idea was stupid, but even so, he suddenly wished to lay food at her feet and prove to her that he was a man worthy of her.

_What?_

The thought stunned him, caused him to stir, his hands dragging on the damp grass as he leaned forward. She looked up, her glowing eyes meeting his, and laughed, the sweet notes ringing out in the cool night air.

"I guess it's useless trying to get clean, huh?" she asked, grinning openly at him. She looked so beautiful it almost hurt to watch, the Saiyan characteristics he had always hid from the world suddenly looking so right upon her delicate face.

"You should see yourself," she added.

"Why? Do I look like a mess?" he asked, smiling. He seemed to be smiling a lot more in these last few days.

Her eyes narrowed, examining him. "Hardly. You look like you have it all together," she replied, leaning back on the boulder and bracing herself by her hands. "You look so natural and masculine, like you're King of this forest." She paused, her eyes skimming over him appreciatively, her head tipped to one side. "I like this side of you," she added quietly.

"I like this side of you, too," he replied, his voice sounding odd to his own ears. Her eyes caught his again, and he felt as if he were drowning in them.

There it was, again. Another one of those moments when he found himself aching to reach out and touch her, to close the distance between their bodies and…

"I have to tell you something," she said abruptly. She averted her eyes, biting her lip as she did so. "I… it's…" she sighed, and he stood up, closing the distance between them and holding out his open hand.

"You said the other day that you find it easier to talk while walking," he offered.

She smiled gratefully, and took his hand.

* * *

**A/N:** I have to give credit to Caprice 6's _How to Make Love to a Saiyan_, which features an amazing description of Vegeta under the effects of a full moon. I love the idea that Saiyans without tails are still affected by the moon, and Caprice 6's descriptions of Vegeta with elongated fangs and reflective eyes put ideas in my head :) If you're a V/B fan then that story is a must-read.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I really appreciate all the support (especially with the odd pairing and all).


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